Unconventional Parents
by tophetangel
Summary: Not a typical geek baby fic. My take on what Grissom and Sara would do if they found out they were going to be parents. GSR obviously. Complete!
1. Chapter 1  Midnight Pharmacy

**A/N** - Don't know how this came to me, but after reading so many fluffy geek baby fics (not that those are bad! Who doesn't love a little fluff? I love fluff...) I thought about how Grissom and Sara would actually react if they found out they were expecting. Let me know what you think! I think I will need some encouragement to get through this one, Im stepping out of my comfort zone...Reviews and suggestions are always welcome!!

* * *

Sara shuffled down aisle six of the all night drug store, contemplating the packages in front of her. Did she really have the courage to actually buy one? Or two? Or six? 

"Damn it! Why are there so many?" She muttered out loud.

"Your first time?"

"Huh?" Sara turned to see a woman standing behind her totting a sleeping baby, two small children waddling behind her. _Why the hell is she out with her kids so late?_ Sara pondered as she smiled softly at the woman.

"It must be." The woman smiled and picked up a blue and while package. "This one is pretty accurate, reads low levels of HCG, but if you really want to be sure, the digital makes it seem pretty real, since the word pops up." The woman added, picking up the pink box from the top shelf.

"Oh, ok. Thanks, I am kind of lost here." Sara admitted sheepishly.

"No problem. C'mon boys." The woman disappeared around the corner, children toddling behind.

Sara stood and stared at the boxes. She grabbed two of the blue boxes, two pink, and a few green boxes for good measure. She grabbed a bag of dog treats, a few candy bars, and a magazine, as if that would hide that fact that she was buying out the pregnancy test section.

Sara fought with herself the entire ride home. "_How could you be so stupid? How did you let this happen? What are you going to do if you __are__ pregnant? You can't be a mother! And Gil...as a father? What the hell are you going to do??"_

Sara pulled into the driveway and rested her head in her hands. Suddenly she sat up and shook her head. "Nope. You are not pregnant. You have to stop worrying about this because you are _not_ pregnant." She told herself out loud, as though that would make it truth. She grabbed her bag and headed inside.

She greeted Bruno with a rub on the head, and spilled the contents of the plastic bag onto the dining room table. She opened the treats and gave one to Bruno, who softly took it from her hand and ran up the stairs.

Sara sat down and opened one of the blue boxes, carefully reading the instruction that had been tucked inside.

"Use first morning urine for best results."

She picked up a pink box, and then a green, both stating the same instructions.

"I am not waiting!" She decided and snatched up the boxes and made her way upstairs.

* * *

Sara paced back and forth in front of her vanity; three tests teetered on the sink. Even though she knew her 3 minutes weren't up, curiosity got the best of her and she peeked at the test closest to her. 

"No! NO NO NO!" She huffed. "No plus signs!! Minus sign! I WANT A MINUS SIGN!"

She snatched up the next test. "NO!!! I want one line! ONE line!!"

Sara stopped before grabbing the last test. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before picking it up.

_PREGNANT_

"This has to be a joke." She sighed as she slowly slid down the vanity, sitting on the cold tile. She sat there with her head in her hands, her mind going a mile a minute. She sat up and poured herself a glass of water from the tap. She downed three glasses before she headed downstairs, phone in her hand.

"Ok, we'll take the other tests. If they say positive, I will call him." Sara told Bruno as she paced in front of the back door.

"Grrr...ruff."

"Oh sorry... here ya go buddy." Sara said as she opened the door for Bruno to go out, she sighed softly as she watched him run through the yard, her mind still going a mile a minute.

"Ugh! What are you thinking? You can't tell him over the phone! What are you going to say Sara?? Hi, Gil? Yeah, can you come home? You see, I got a touch of pregnancy and we need to have a talk...UGH! This is stupid! We're not teenagers." Sara grunted as she sat on the stool next to the door.

Sara had never pictured herself in this situation, ever. She had decided a long time ago that children were not in the cards for her. She had never felt maternal in any way, shape, or form; and that had been fine... until she missed two periods and had to make a midnight run to an all night drug store so she could pee on a stick.

A half an hour later Sara found herself staring at four more tests. She snatched them up and put them on the floor in front of her, with the other three tests.

"Plus sign, plus sign, plus sign... two lines, two lines... pregnant, aaaaand pregnant. Wonderful." Sara sighed as she stared at the sticks. She sprawled out on the floor, and turned to lie on her back. She had calmed herself a bit, and found herself subconsciously placing her hands on her belly.

"I'm so sorry." Sara sighed. "You are going to have weird parents, who don't know a thing about child rearing." Sara closed her eyes and soon fell asleep on the bathroom floor.

A phone ringing in the distance of a dream confused her, and her eyes shot open. She stood up and headed into the bedroom and grabbed the phone before the answering machine kicked in.

"Hello?"

"Sara? Did I wake you? I was just going leave a message."

"No, I was actually up." Sara lied.

"Oh, well you sound like you just woke up."

"Well, I did...well, not really, I fell asleep, but I haven't been to bed, I was up."

"Sara? Are you alright? You aren't making any sense."

"I'm fine Gil, I'm sorry; I just fell asleep in the bathroom."

"The _bathroom_? Are you sure you're alright? Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm fine Gil, what were you calling about?"

"It looks like our case might take a while; I might be a few hours late. I didn't want you to wake up and wonder why I wasn't home."

"Oh...ok."

"Sara, I'm a little concerned, are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, it's just that... I want to talk to you when you get home ok?"

"That sounds bad, is there something wrong?"

"It isn't bad... well; I suppose it depends on how you look at it. I just need to talk to you when you get home ok?"

"Ok, well get some rest, you sound like you need some."

"Ok, Love you."

"Love you too. See you in the morning."

Sara rested the phone back on its cradle and lay back in the bed; she tucked her feet up and shimmied her way to the pillows. Bruno jumped up beside her, made a tight circle and found a comfortable spot to rest. Sara reached over and gently rubbed his ears.

"Oh Bruno..." Sara sighed before clicking off the light and settling in.

* * *

Bruno jumped off the bed, waking Sara, who blinked away the brightness of the sun pouring in through the window. 

"Hey Buddy! You wanna go out?"

"Shit." Sara muttered and ran into the bathroom, frantically picking up the seven tests and tossing them into a drawer.

"Sara?" Gil stood at the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing up there? It sounds like we have a wild herd of elephants in the house!"

"Damn it." Sara sighed. "What the hell am I doing?"

"Sara?"

"Gil? Can you come up here?" Sara called out. She opened the drawer and plucked each and every test from its hiding place, and held them in her hand.

"Hey, are you ok?" Grissom asked as he rounded the corner into the bathroom. He was greeted by a sobbing Sara, tears streaming down her face. "Sara what's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant." She cried as she held out the tests for him to take.

Gil stared at the tests, Sara's words ringing in his ears. He didn't know what to think. He looked up and reached over to pull Sara into a hug.

"It'll be ok, it'll be ok." He whispered softly as Sara sobbed into his chest.

"How can you say that?" Sara yelled as she pulled away from him. She wasn't angry at him, but she was incredibly frustrated and couldn't help herself. "What are we going to do Gil? Neither one of us is cut out to be a parent."

"But we are going to be parents; we will just have to figure it out as we go."

"How can you be so calm?" Sara asked, wiping her tears from her face.

"I may be outwardly calm, but trust me my mind is absolutely reeling right now." Grissom sighed as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Sara.

"How did this happen?" Sara muttered as she took the tests from his hand and tossed them in the garbage.

"Well, you see dear when a man and woman love each other..."

"Gilbert, this isn't the time to crack a joke." Sara raised an eyebrow as she pushed past him and headed downstairs, Grissom on her heels.


	2. Chapter 2  Reality

**A/N** - Thanks for all the feedback so far! The encouragement helped me get cracking on chapter 2, Im still figuring out chapter 3 a little bit... keep the reviews coming, they keep me motivated, I wasnt sure how well a non-fluff geek baby fic would go over!

* * *

Grissom watched as Sara paced in the kitchen for a few moments. "Sara, I hate that you're this upset, it's making me upset." 

"I'm sorry Gil, but what am I supposed to do right now?"

"I think you need to calm down. We have plenty of time to prepare. We will figure this out as we go. There is nothing we can do right now...unless, I mean you wanted to do something, I don't know if you...I mean it's your body, a woman has the legal right..."

"Gil, I wouldn't do_ that_." Sara sighed. "I just, I just don't know what to think right now. I'm angry; I'm upset, I'm sad..."

"Then talk to me." Grissom sighed. "I know that I need to talk this out too, I haven't had a coherent thought for the last five minutes."

Sara smiled a little; she felt better knowing he was nervous too. Sara walked over to the couch and sat down, Grissom sat and pulled her feet into his lap and pulled the throw off the back of the couch to cover them up. Sara unknowingly started chewing on her pinky nail, staring into space.

"Ok, I'm a bit out of the loop here, when did you first suspect you might be pregnant." Gil asked softly, massaging Sara's feet under the blanket.

"Two weeks ago. I realized I was six weeks late."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because, I have been under so much stress lately, I figured it was because of that. I told myself if I missed the next one, I would take a test..."

"Or ten."

"I took_ seven_." Sara glared at him.

"Why did you wait until I was at work?"

"I convinced myself it was stress, and I would just go get a test, and I was so sure it would be negative, I didn't see the point in telling you and have it be a false alarm. But then I was standing there in the drug store, and I starting freaking out, wondering what I would do if I were actually pregnant. Then this stupid lady with her three kids, in a drug store at midnight mind you, starts giving me advice thinking I was _excited_ about peeing a stick."

"Ok, and then you came home and took all of the tests?"

"I took three at first, one of each brand. When they all came back positive, I freaked out and drank like a gallon of water and took the other four."

"And then fell asleep in the bathroom?"

Sara let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I was apologizing to our fetus for having weird parents, and then I started thinking about us _actually _having a child and I guess I fell asleep."

"Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"We're in this together right?"

"Of course."

"Can I ask a favor?"

"Of course."

"Please don't refer to it as 'our fetus' anymore...it kind of weirds me out."

Sara let out a belly laugh. "Ok. I won't."

Sara put her head back and snuggled into the couch. Grissom's hands slowly working the tension out of her feet. She put her hand to her stomach and sighed softly.

"This is real isn't it?"

"Yeah Sara, it's real."

"I am petrified."

"I am too. A lot of men my age are grandfathers already."

"Does that bother you?"

"Honestly, yes. I don't know if I will have the energy to chase after a child. And I know nothing about sports, how can I teach _my_ child to play sports?"

"Well, maybe we can ask Warrick or Nick to help with that... Wait so you think it's going to be a boy?"

"I didn't say that. Girls play sports as well."

"True... I never played sports. I didn't even have a _normal_ childhood. How can I give my child a normal childhood if I don't know what one is?"

Grissom watched as a few tears rolled off Sara's chin.

"I don't know how to be a mother..." Sara whispered.

"I don't know how to be a father either." Grissom whispered back.

"I cannot believe this is happening. And we have to tell _people_..." Sara cringed at the idea of the rest of the team finding out. Nick and Catherine would be overly excited, which would be incredibly annoying. Greg would make a wise crack of some sort, probably referring to Grissom 'getting laid'; and Warrick...Warrick might be her saving grace. Warrick would understand and be logical. He would get that it wasn't at all exciting to her, and would be there for support.

"I can tell _people_, so you don't have to be there for the barrage of questions." Grissom offered.

Sara smiled at him and felt herself relax a little bit. He got her, and he would get her through this. Their life wouldn't be a Norman Rockwell painting, but he would get her through it.

* * *

Grissom stopped just short of the break room. The day had come to tell his colleagues he would be a father in just a little over six months time. He had gone to Sara's appointment with her that afternoon; they had heard their child's heartbeat for the first time. He didn't feel that lump in his stomach like the man in the waiting room told him he would, he didn't feel the rush of love the man had described either; instead he found himself fascinated with the tiny orb on the screen, and decided he needed to research fetal development a bit further, it seemed quite interesting. Grissom sighed and strolled into the break room, ready to hand out assignments. 

"Before I give you your assignments, I would like to inform you all that Sara and I are having a child." He stated bluntly.

Four bewildered faces stared at him, fully expecting more details.

Grissom shuffled the papers in his hand. "Catherine you and I are heading out to Hend..."

"Wait, hold on a second!" Catherine cut him off. "Sara is _pregnant_?"

"Yes. Sara is pregnant. But the D.B in Henderson doesn't care about that; he would like us to solve his murder."

"Yeah, good for him." Catherine scoffed. "How did this happen?"

"Grissom got laaaaaid." Greg quipped, giving an elbow and raised eyebrows to an un-amused Warrick.

"Shut it Sanders." Catherine snipped. "I mean, were you planning this? How far along is she? When is her due date? Is feeling ok? Is this why she left the lab? Did you just find out? Have you been keeping this from us? Is this why Sara stopped visiting? You have to give me _something_ here Gil." Catherine was talking a mile a minute.

Grissom raised his eyebrows at her string of questions, he knew he had to give her something to satisfy her; he didn't want to spend the entire drive to Henderson with a pissed off Catherine.

"Sara is fine, it isn't why she left, she is only 13 weeks along, her approximate due date is June 16th." Grissom told her. "We need to get to Henderson, Greg you have a B&E on Freemont, Nick and Warrick your D.B awaits you at Flamingo and Las Vegas Boulevard." Grissom passed out assignments and left them alone to talk for a few moments. He thought about eavesdropping for a moment, but decided against it, and headed to office to call Sara and let her know she would likely get a call from Catherine sometime during the night.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3  People Know

**A/N** - I am really glad you guys are liking it so far :) Makes me a little more confident with writing the new chapters!!

* * *

Catherine turned around to see a giggling Greg, an aloof Warrick, and a stunned Nick. 

"Ok, what the hell?" Catherine huffed.

"Well, it's early in the pregnancy; maybe he doesn't have twenty answers for your twenty questions." Warrick said as we walked over to get a cup a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I mean, I heard it's good to wait until after your first trimester to tell people." Nick finally spoke up.

"That is all fine and well; he didn't have to be so callous. A baby is a blessing!" Catherine said.

"And I suppose you were just 'over the moon' when you found out about Linds?" Warrick questioned.

"Not initially, but you go through a lot of emotions when you first find out. _But,_ by the beginning of the second trimester I was over it. I was happy."

"Grissom didn't seem to be happy _or_ unhappy." Greg noted.

"Yeah, he seemed indifferent." Catherine added.

"It's Grissom. He doesn't exactly wear his heart on his sleeve." Warrick tapped Nick on the shoulder, ready to leave.

"Don't stress about it Cath, Gris and Sara are private people; maybe you shouldn't read too much into this." Nick told her as he stood to go.

"Hey, don't interrogate him tonight ok?" Warrick gave Catherine a knowing look.

Catherine stood there with her mouth open as Warrick and Nick headed out the door.

"Like I would interrogate him!" Catherine turned to Greg who just shook his head.

"Sometimes you're pushy." He shrugged.

If looks could kill, Greg Sanders would have died a thousands deaths in that single moment.

"Please don't hurt me." Greg squeaked as he quickly got up and headed out the door himself.

Catherine snatched her papers and headed off to find Grissom.

* * *

Grissom closed his office door and hurried to desk, dialing the numbers on the phone before he had even sat down. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, How ya feeling?"

"Hey, I'm doing ok. I think the nap after the appointment helped a lot." Sara sighed.

"That's good. Remember what the doctor said now, plenty of liquids, and lots of rest will help you feel better."

"Yeah, I was there remember?? I _heard_ it."

Grissom had not yet figured out how to deal with the mood swings Sara had been developing, he was searching for the right words to say when Sara interrupted his thoughts.

"Did you tell them?"

"Yeah, I told them. Catherine bombarded me with a million questions, and now I have to ride all the way out to Henderson with her, and I will likely get a million more questions thrown at me. I also assume she will sneak away and call you at some point as well."

"You know you could have assigned her to another case with someone else right?"

"Yes, I realize that, but I figured I could act as a shield, and she can ask me a million things _before_ she calls you."

"That was sweet of you, thank you." Grissom swore he could almost see her smile through the phone.

"Well, I better get going; Cath should be here any minute."

"Ok, talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too, goodnight."

Grissom hung up the phone a whole two seconds before Catherine opened the door to his office.

"You ready?" She asked, a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah." Grissom nodded and headed out.

* * *

Sara was lost in thought, rubbing Bruno's stomach when the phone rang. 

"She wastes no time!" Sara sighed and reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"I didn't wake you did I?"

Sara smiled when she recognized Warrick's voice.

"Nope. I'm up."

"Just heard the big news."

"Yeah. Woo friggin' hoo." Sara sighed.

"I thought you may be less than enthusiastic."

Sara smiled to herself. _'Oh, thank God for Warrick'_. She thought.

"Well, it was a big shock to me, and quite honestly I am still unsure how I feel about all of it." She admitted.

"You guys never talked about kids?"

"We didn't really need to talk about it, it was kind of unspoken. Neither one of us really ever thought we'd have a child."

"Hey, Nick's headed back to the car, made a quick stop before we left. You up for breakfast later this week? We can talk a little bit more then."

"I'd really like that."

"I'll give you a call later and we'll set something up."

"Sounds fantastic, thanks Warrick."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye"

Sara hung up the phone and wiggled under the covers. Thank goodness someone was logical about it; she already hated how everyone assumes because your pregnant you're just elated about it. She cringed thinking about the waiting room earlier that afternoon, women talking to each other about gross bodily functions with no shame whatsoever, that annoying baby talk everyone seemed to be using, and the belly touching, ugh...the belly touching.

"I swear Bruno, if some stranger ever comes up to me and touches my stomach when I am all huge and bulbous, I will break their fingers." She whispered to the dog as she reached over and turned out the light.


	4. Chapter 4 She said, He said

**A/N** - Again, thank you for the feedback! It makes it so much easier to write when I know that someone other than me is enjoying it!

* * *

Grissom grabbed Catherine's case and popped the trunk to his Denali, he stuck the cases in the back, took a deep breath, closed the door and headed for the drivers seat. 

Catherine didn't utter a word until Grissom merged on the I-515; he heard her draw a deep breath and knew she was ready to start in.

"I didn't mean to come of as harsh back at the lab." She sighed.

Grissom was almost speechless when he heard her words.

"I didn't think you were harsh, Catherine. It's our job to ask questions, it's just become a part of your nature."

"Its just... this sort of blind sided me, I guess."

"It sort of blind sided me as well." He admitted.

"So, I take it this was an 'oops'."

Grissom sighed heavily. "Yes, this was an 'oops'."

"That sucks."

Grissom looked at Catherine, unsure of what to say.

"Linds was an 'oops' as well. But I made my peace with it, there was nothing I could do, I had to make peace with it. And, now I have a hormonal teenager that I hardly handle, isn't life grand?"

Grissom gulped hard, he hadn't thought about the teen years at all, He'd be _seventy_ when his child would be able to drive a car.

"You ok Gil?"

"I just realized I will be in my seventies when he or she graduates from high school..."

"Oh."

"I don't know Cath, I just thought I was past the having children stage of my life."

"Well you better get over that pretty quick here." Catherine quipped.

_'There's the Catherine I was expecting.'_ He thought to himself.

"I'm serious Gil, Right now you are thinking about yourself. All of that stops here and now. Now, your life takes a backseat to your child's life. You have to focus on the baby."

Grissom knew Catherin was right, he was just having a hard time imagining a _baby_ having the control in his life.

"Do you even know how to change a diaper?" Catherine cocked her head to the side and gave him a glare.

_'Yep. Long ride to Henderson...'_ Grissom sighed to himself and pushed the gas pedal down a little further.

* * *

Grissom slammed the trunk to the Denali as Brass made his way over. 

"Heard you're going to be a _daddy_." He smiled slyly.

Grissom gave a disapproving glance at Catherine.

"I didn't tell him!" She snipped as she slid under the yellow crime tape.

"Nah, Sanders called me." Brass smiled.

"Greg _called_ you?"

"Yeah, he was all giggly and Greg like... I think he needs to make some friends."

"Apparently." Grissom sighed, stopping just short of the tape. "I wanted to tell you myself Jim."

"Ahh, it's ok. I thought maybe he was playing a joke, but then he told me to call you and you'd 'set me straight'. So I figured he was telling the truth."

"I'll have to have a talk with him later."

"So when is she due?"

"June."

"How is she feeling?"

"Tired."

Jim simply nodded. "She getting mood swings and cravings yet?"

"So far just the mood swings."

"I'm sorry."

Grissom laughed and slid under the tape and walked into the house.

* * *

Sara awoke to barking the and rolled over to find Bruno gone from his usual sleeping spot. 

"Bruno?" She mumbled as she sat on the edge of the bed.

She heard two knocks at the door, so she slid on her slippers and headed downstairs. She spotted Bruno peeking out the front window and she pressed her eye to the peephole. She pulled her head back and opened the door with a giant smile.

"Warrick!" She gushed, as he walked in holding out a bag of bagels.

"Gris is going to be working late in Henderson so I thought it might be a good time to come talk." He smiled.

"What a great surprise!" She smiled as she ushered him into the kitchen.

"You lookin' hot there Sara." Warrick joked as he eyed up her flannel pajamas and her hair in a messy pony tail.

"Yeah, I'm smoking hot today." She joked back.

Sara grabbed a few plates and glasses, and grabbed a carton of juice from the fridge. They made small talk while they smeared cream cheese on their bagels.

"So, how are you handling this?" Warrick asked bluntly as he took a bite.

"Not well." Sara sighed. "I mean, I never imagined having a child, I never imagined being pregnant, I never imagined giving birth. I never really _wanted _this." She hung her head a little and Warrick shifted in his seat.

"And you feel guilty for feeling that way."

"I do. This child didn't ask for this, this child doesn't deserve a mother who would say that sort of thing. I mean normal people don't say that when they find out they're pregnant. Normal people go out and buy tiny shoes and _ooh _and _ahh_ over tiny baby clothes. And I...I am just not that person. "

"You're right, you aren't that person. But that doesn't mean you aren't normal. You think every expectant mother turns into a glowing, bubbly, happy person the moment they find out?"

"Well apparently all the women who go to my clinic turn into glowing, bubbly blobs."

"Well, that isn't you Sara. And that is ok."

"I don't know how to be a mother; let alone be a good mother."

"But you'll figure it out as you go. There is no formula for being a good parent. You just have to wing it, you'll find your parenting style, and it will all work itself out. There is no perfect parent Sara, everyone makes mistakes along the way, but it's a learning process, and I have every confidence that you will raise a wonderful child."

Sara sighed. "Thanks Warrick, I knew you'd be logical and straight forward with me, I really need that right now..."

"Then I would avoid Catherine for a while." He smiled.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5 Cheesecake Run

**A/N -** Ok I am really anxious to see what you guys think of this chapter. When re-watching _A La Cart_, seeing the way Gris and Sara interact outside of work, I figured they were pretty much like a normal couple at home...so this chapter is a little more playful. I know some people may think Sara is OOC a bit in this chapter, and I guess she is...but trust me, pregnancy makes every woman act OOC...

* * *

Sara was rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher when Gil came in the door. 

"Good morning sunshine." He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Morning."

"You look like you're in a good mood." Grissom smiled.

"Yeah, Warrick brought breakfast, we had a good talk."

"That's good. I'm glad you're in a good mood."

Sara turned and raised an eyebrow. "Why?" She questioned, sensing something was up.

Grissom saw this swing coming and headed toward the stairs. "I had a talk with Catherine too; it went better than I thought it would."

"That's good." Sara said as she moved across the kitchen, sensing Gil was planning an escape.

"And... She will be throwing our baby shower." Gil blurted out and made a mad dash up the stairs.

Sara stood there for a moment, too stunned to move. Once the anger started to build she bolted up the stairs, taking two stairs at a time.

"GIL!" She called after him. "GIIIIIIL!!!!!"

She stopped in the bedroom doorway and glared across the room.

"Free stuff."

"What?" Sara nearly growled.

"The way she explained, we have a party and people bring baby gifts, and so we get free stuff."

"We are perfectly capable of providing for this child on our own. NO SHOWER! How could you agree to that?? Do I _REALLY_ strike you as the baby shower type?"

"She just went off on a tangent, I agreed to it before I realized what I was doing."

"You have to_ undo_ it; you have to _fix_ this Gil."

"I will...ok, yeah...I can, I will...please just... calm down..._please_."

Sara couldn't help it, she started laughing. She started laughing uncontrollably. Grissom had pressed himself against the wall, as if there was a secret button he could push and the wall would just swallow him up. He was _scared_ of her.

Grissom watched as her laughs slowly turned into tears. He sheepishly crept to her side and pulled her into his chest. "Oh Sara." He whispered.

"Am I going to be like this for the next six months?" Sara sobbed.

"Hormones, it's just the hormones." Grissom assured her as he started to rock her gently in his arms.

"I don't want to be like this! I want to feel normal! I hate being this...this...tornado of emotion!" She sobbed.

"It'll be ok Sara, we will get through this, it will be fine."

Sara sniffled and pulled her head back to look up into Grissom's eyes. He stared at her with that look of understanding, and she felt a little better.

"I will fix this tonight, I swear, I will tell Catherine no shower."

"I just hate showers." Sara sighed.

"Why?" Grissom asked, he didn't understand why a party was such an awful thing.

"The stupid games and the stupid cake with the stupid baby booties...ugh."

"Well, can't we compromise?"

"Compromise how?"

"No games and we can have pie...or cheesecake! You love cheesecake."

"You really want this shower don't you?" Sara asked.

"I just thought it would be nice to have a party with everyone, they miss you, they miss seeing you every day. And if we do it, Catherine will get off my back about how we never guests over, and I just...I just thought, it would be nice." Grissom sighed. "I didn't know it would make you so upset, or I would have fixed it already."

Sara stared up at Grissom, she never thought he would be one to want a baby shower, but she supposed she really hadn't given it much thought, and sometimes he was just...surprising.

"Ok. We'll have it here. But no games and you better get cheesecake..."

Grissom smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Actually, cheesecake sounds really good...do we have any?" Sara turned and headed downstairs.

Grissom hung his head; he knew they didn't have cheesecake... and damn Jim for asking about cravings. He turned and headed down the stairs. He rounded the corner and laughed a little when he saw Sara's behind sticking out of the fridge. He grabbed his keys from the bowl by the door.

"I'm going down to the market, what kind of cheesecake do you want?" He asked.

"Strawberry!"

"Ok, I'll be back..."

"No, wait! Chocolate! Or...maybe blueberry! Do you think they have any with pecans?"

Grissom sighed and opened the door. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Grissom pushed his cart up to the check out lane and started piling his finds on the conveyor belt. The teenager working the register watched as he unloaded four large cheesecakes, whipped cream, fresh fruit, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and a bag of dog food. 

"Having a party?" She asked, smiling at him with a mouth full of wire.

"No, my wife is pregnant." He sighed.

The man behind him chuckled a little. "Here" He smiled, picking up two Reese's candy bars and a bag of m&m's. "Crumple it on top of the cheesecake, it will appease the wife."

Grissom laughed and took the candy. "Thanks."

"Your first?" The man asked.

"Umm, yeah" Gil smiled, a little uneasy that he had just admitted to a stranger that the old man in front of him was a first time dad to be.

"When my wife was pregnant with our first, I was a mess!" The man laughed. "The mood swings, the cravings, the swelling, the aches and pains...learn to keep lots of chocolate and ice cream in the house _at all times_, and if she gets angry, offer to rub her feet."

Gil looked at the man as he paid the girl for his items.

"Trust me." The man said seriously. "Offer to rub her feet."

Gil thanked the man, tipped the bag boy and hurried to the car with his bags.

As he drove home, Gil suddenly understood Sara's frustration with the woman at the all night drug store.

_'Why is it strangers feel the need to give you advice when they don't even know you? Is that going to happen for the rest of my life?'_ He wondered, he thought about strangers coming up to him and giving him advice as he toted his child around at a park, or a mall. _'Well, right after they ask me if it's my grandchild' _He sighed.

Grissom pulled into the driveway and unloaded his bags; we walked in to find Sara sitting on the floor of the kitchen, a bowl of pudding in front of her. She had a smear of chocolate on her face and she looked up to great him.

"Sara honey..." Gil laughed and motioned for her to wipe her face.

Sara stood up and put the bowl on the counter. "What did you get?" She asked anxiously as she grabbed a plate and fork.

Grissom started pulling items out of the bag. "I got a strawberry, a turtle, a blueberry, and a plain." He reached into the other bag. "Chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, fruit, cream, and a few candy bars. The man behind me in line suggested crumpling them on the cheesecake."

Sara reached into a drawer and grabbed a spatula.

"Sara what are you doing?" Grissom asked stepping backwards as she came towards him, wielding the kitchen utensil like a sword.

Sara veered right and starting smacking the peanut butter cup package. She stopped, popped the dome off of the plain cheesecake and plopped a piece on her plate. She opened the candy wrapper and sprinkled the little bits all over the top of the slice. She popped open the chocolate sauce and drenched her creation in chocolate. She grabbed her plate and fork, kissed Grissom on the cheek and headed up the stairs.

Grissom sighed and started putting things in the fridge. "This is going to be the longest six months of my life." He muttered before taking a piece of the cheesecake for himself.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6  Big ultrasound

A/N- Again, thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them!!I am having a lot of fun recalling pregnancy emotions and experiences, hopefully some of you can relate to them!

On a side note, on friday I found out my little sister is expecting, and she was spewing out a lot of the feelings and stuff I had written for Sara in the first few chapters, it was hilarious!

* * *

"I have a pooch." Sara announced. 

"You have a what?" Grissom peered over the book he had been reading and stared at Sara as she sat on the couch.

"A pooch." She told him matter of factly. She poked at her stomach a little bit.

Sara was not quite welcoming of the fact that she was pregnant; she knew she was, and that her body would change as time went on. She knew the day would come, and she would give birth and then have a child to take care of. She just hadn't quite accepted it all yet. She gave her stomach another poke.

"Stop that."

"Why?" Sara questioned.

"I don't know... it just can't be good, poking at it like that."

Sara laughed. "I think its fine Gil. It's not like I am going to give it a complex."

"Are we going to find out the baby's sex at your ultrasound?"

"We have a week and a half to decide that."

"I think we should." Grissom told her, reaching for his bookmark.

"If you want to find out, that's fine by me, I don't have a preference either way. Besides, the doctor said they aren't always cooperative, they may not be able to tell at all."

"I would just like to stop calling the baby 'it'." Grissom said as he leaned to put his book on the coffee table.

Sara sighed. She did feel a little odd referring to the child inside of her as 'it'; but her only alternative at the moment was referring to it as 'the baby', and that was just too real for her.

"Besides, if we know the gender, we can start throwing names out there."

Sara's eyes widened and she felt like she might be ill.

"Sara? Are you ok?"

"Yeah." She lied, and apparently not very well as her statement brought Grissom over to couch to wrap her in a hug.

"You know we have to name the child right?" He tried to lighten up the situation.

"Yeah."

"Sara, I know this was not in our plans; but we are going to have a child, and I think you need to allow yourself to accept that. Or else we're going to have a teenager running around named '_Baby_ Grissom'."

Sara laughed. She knew Grissom was still struggling with becoming a father, but had accepted it and was trying to do his best to prepare. She glanced over at his book. _'Becoming a Father'._

"When you bought that, did you notice any name books?" She asked. "Because I think I might need help."

Grissom smiled. "They had about a hundred baby name books; I will pick one up next time I'm there."

"Ok." Sara whispered and she leaned back against his chest.

"You ever going to read that book Catherine wanted you to have?"

Sara glanced at the bookshelf, eyeing up that evil copy of '_What to expect when you're expecting.'_

"Don't push it." She huffed and poked at her stomach again.

CSICSICSICSI

Sara anxiously wrung her hands as she sat alone in the waiting room.

"I swear to God if he misses this appointment, I am moving out." Sara huffed as she glanced at the clock.

"Mrs.Grissom?" The nurse called her name from the door.

Sara got up and unhappily walked into the exam room. She changed into one those horrible gowns and sat on the table, wiggling her feet under the blanket she had laid across her lap. There was a knock on the door and she muttered a low "Come in"

"I didn't miss anything did I??" Grissom huffed as he came in and shut the door.

"Where the hell have you been? You swore you would be here!"

"I'm here aren't I?"

"Yeah by the skin of your teeth!" Sara said glancing at her watch.

"I'm so sorry, we have a high profile case; daughter of a casino owner went missing. Ecklie wanted me to stay, I finally told him that you were pregnant and I had to make this appointment."

"And he let you go?" Sara questioned, knowing how insane Ecklie got when they had a big case.

"I think he let me go because he was just so shocked." Grissom smiled.

There was a slight knock on the door and the Doctor came in.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Grissom!" She smiled.

"_Dr._ and Mrs. Grissom." Sara quickly corrected her.

"My apologies! Dr. and Mrs. Grissom" The Doctor's smile widened.

_'Ugh...'_ Sara thought to herself, _'Why is everyone here so damn chipper?'_

"Well let's get this ball rolling!" The doctor scooted across the room on her stool and pulled the ultrasound machine over.

"Don't I usually go to radiology for ultrasounds?" Sara questioned as she watched the Doctor grab the bottle of goo of the sink.

"Usually yes, but I like doing these ultrasounds myself, it's just so exciting! The nurse informed me you'd want to know the sex!" The doctor smiled as she lowered the table and moved Sara's gown, exposing her expanding belly.

Sara rolled her eyes at Grissom, who simply grabbed her hand.

"Ok, this will be a little cold!" The doctor warned before squirting Sara's stomach.

"There's the heartbeat!" The doctor giggled as she pointed to the screen.

"Oh my god." Sara leaned up on her elbows.

"What?" Grissom squinted at the screen before reaching for his glasses.

"It's face! It's so... clear." Sara glared at the tiny profile on the screen.

The doctor swirled around her stomach before stopping and tapping at her keyboard.

"No! Go back to the face, he has to see!" Sara said.

The doctor swirled around her stomach again and found the baby's face for Grissom to see.

"Oh, wow..." Grissom muttered.

"Your daughter looks beautiful." The doctor smiled.

"Daughter?" Grissom choked out.

"Yes! You're having a baby girl!" The Doctor gushed.

Sara leaned back and sighed. It finally hit her. She was a having a baby. She was going to be giving birth to a _person_. A little girl.

CSICSICSICSICSI

"Sara are you ok?" Grissom asked as he watched Sara curl up in the middle of the bed.

"Yeah. Fine."

"Liar." Grissom said as he lay next to her.

"This just got too real." She sighed.

"Anything I can do? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Did you get that name book? I feel like I need to name her now." Sara said as she sat up.

"Yeah, hold on." Grissom grunted as he rolled off the bed and rifled through his bedside table.

"Here we go!" He smiled as he lay back on the pillows and waved the book at her.

"You look and just throw out the names you like." Sara sighed and lay next to Grissom.

Grissom reached over and grabbed a pen from his table.

"What are you doing?" Sara asked.

"Well if there is a name we both like we can mark it, and go from there."

"Ok." Sara smiled; leave it to be Grissom to be organized.

"Abigail."

"Eh, it's ok."

"Adalaide."

"No."

"Ava"

"Eh, maybe."

"Bryn"

"No."

Sara glanced at the clock; it had been nearly an hour.

"Violet."

"Yes!"

"Violet?"

"Yes her name is Violet!" Sara sat up straight and put her hands to her stomach.

Grissom smiled and closed the book; he put his hand on Sara's stomach. He had touched her stomach before, but only when she had been asleep. Sara had made it very clear very early on she was anti-belly touching.

"Violet." He smiled. "What about a middle name?"

"You can pick." Sara smiled. "As long as it isn't 'Esmeralda' you can pick."

Grissom kissed her cheek and rolled out of bed. "Ice cream?" He turned as he stood in the doorway.

"Yeah." Sara smiled.

Sara held her hand against her stomach and felt the tiny kicks inside her. She had felt it all week and thought it was gas, it hadn't felt like kicking, it felt more like butterfly wings fluttering from the inside of her belly. After the doctor informed her that afternoon that it was in fact the baby kicking, she had been waiting to feel them again.

"Yup, this is real." Sara whispered to herself and snuggled under the covers, waiting for her ice cream.


	7. Chapter 7 Warrick to the rescue

A/N - Just a short little chapter for ya! I'm having an easier time than I thought I would with writing this! I think your comments are helping want to write, and wanting to keep updating!

* * *

Sara pranced around the kitchen, phone in hand. She stopped just like someone had kicked her and she quickly dialed the phone.

"Brown."

"Half Baked!"

"What? Who is thi...Sara?"

"I'm half baked!"

"Wait, what?"

"I finally starting reading that stupid, _stupid_ book Catherine gave me, and I went online to look stuff up and came to this forum website. It said I'm half baked!"

"Ok, slow down. What the hell does that mean?"

"At 20 weeks gestation you're half way done. Half baked!"

"Oh I get it, bun in the oven, half baked... ok..."

"I can't do this! I've changed my mind!"

"Sara, you need to calm down."

"I can't! Warrick I cannot do this, I'm done."

"Ok, Sara, I'm coming over. Calm down until I get there ok?"

"Ok." Sara sighed. "But hurry!"

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

* * *

Sara heard a car in her driveway and ran to the door; Warrick hadn't even knocked when the door flew open.

"Do you know what I have to do to give birth?" Sara said.

"Yes I do. And you knew what it involved before you got pregnant. Can I come in?"

"Oh. Yeah." Sara turned and marched inside, leaving Warrick to come in and shut the door behind him.

Sara stood in front of the TV, she grabbed a remote and the house was suddenly filled with the sound of a woman screaming.

"You see that? I CAN'T do that!!" Sara turned to Warrick, fear and tears in her eyes.

Warrick walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sara, you can do this, you're freaking yourself out. You need to just calm down."

Sara turned and sat on the couch. "Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

"Because you NEED to calm down before you have a damn stroke." Warrick told her as he sat beside her, grabbing the remote and shutting off the DVD.

"This is nuts." Sara sighed.

"Sara?"

"Hmm?" Sara found herself chewing on her almost non-existent pinky nail.

"When your baby asks about your pregnancy, what are you going to tell them?"

"Violet."

"Huh?"

"It's a girl, we're calling her Violet."

"Ok, when Violet asks, what are you going to tell her?"

"The truth?"

"Yeah, you do that." Warrick looked at her. "Well Violet, mommy almost had a nervous breakdown because she was so against you being born."

"I wouldn't say that to her." Sara huffed.

"Then what are you going to do? Lie to her? Make up some fancy fairytale about how you were so excited and couldn't wait for her to be born? You're going to have to tell her that, or you can start accepting the fact that Violet is coming and then you can tell her the truth. You can say you were really nervous, but then you came around, and started preparing for her to come."

"You think I have been overly disappointed?"

"Haven't you?"

"I guess I have. I just really didn't see this coming, but I can't force myself to be overly happy."

"Well, then you have to change you perspective, change the way you think, and the way you see this situation."

"You sound like Gil."

"Grissom has taught me a lot over the years." Warrick chuckled.

"Have you even bought anything for the bab...Violet, yet?"

"Yeah, Gil bought a car seat just the other day." Sara told him, pointing to the box in the corner.

"I didn't ask if Grissom had bought anything."

Sara saw Warrick's point. "No, I guess I haven't" She sighed.

"Look, your shower is six weeks away, and you need to make a registry."

"Catherine got to you."

"No, she's given us our invitations and we all have no idea what you want, or need."

"What do I do to make a registry?"

"Girl, you need to get with the program here. Where is your computer?"

Sara led Warrick upstairs where they spent some time making a registry online.

"Now you need to go to the store and register for more stuff in the store." Warrick told her, once he thought they had covered all the bases as far as baby needs went.

"How much stuff does a baby need?" Sara questioned.

"Girl, seriously. Get with the program."

"I am really new at this ok? Give me a break."

"I hate to say this, but you need to talk to Catherine."

Sara grunted.

"Look, you've been avoiding her like the plague. She is starting to think you hate her."

"I don't hate her."

"Well, it seems that way to her. She has been through this before; she is trying to be helpful. You have to _let_ her help you."

"I guess you're right, I hate saying it, but you're right." Sara sat on the floor and put her hands on her stomach. "What's wrong with me?" She muttered before breaking into tears.

Warrick sat beside her and hugged her. "Sara, it's ok. We know this wasn't planned, and I know you're scared. Nothing is scarier than the unknown. But you need to start accepting this and start educating yourself, start reading the books, start talking to Catherine. Stop being so opposed to this, Stop being so opposed to taking advice from people who care about you. Start preparing, when you don't have as many unknowns, you will feel better."

Sara sniffed and rubbed the tears from her face. "This is so scary."

"I know you're scared, and this is a scary thing. What you are feeling is _normal_."

"I'm sorry I freaked out on you. Thank you for coming over, you are a good friend."

Warrick hugged Sara to his chest and kissed her forehead. "I'm really glad we're friends. I'm glad I can be straight forward with you and not piss you off."

Sara laughed. "Thank you for listening to me rant and rave and not think I am a lunatic!"

* * *

Grissom walked in the front door, greeted Bruno with a pat on the head, and tossed his keys in the bowl next to the door. He heard someone come down the stairs, the footsteps heavier than Sara's. Warrick emerged in paint covered clothes.

"What are you doing here?" Grissom questioned as he followed him into the kitchen.

"Sara freaked out on my last night, I came over to calm her down."

"Oh." Grissom said, a little hurt Sara hadn't called him.

"Turns out I calmed her down too much." Warrick laughed as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Grissom gave him a confused look.

"She and I created a registry online last night, she called Cath and they are going out shopping today. Then she freaked out again about not having a room for the baby, so I moved your desk and computer to the den, and Sara found a 24 hour hardware store...long story short, Violet's room is now painted a lovely shade _of_ Violet." Warrick explained, pointing to the purple paint on his clothes.

"I don't like it when she has that big of a swing." Grissom told him, worry taking over his face.

"Ahh, its fine. I reasoned with her a little bit, and she seems to have calmed down."

"Sara?"

"Yeah, Sara."

Grissom walked and peered up the stairs, Sara was standing there in her overalls. "Hi sweetheart! You have to come see what a great job Warrick did!! The room looks twice as big now that it isn't dark green!"

Grissom started up the stairs, Warrick right behind him, carrying a glass of juice for Sara.

"You did this last night?" Grissom asked Warrick as he stared into the room.

"Yeah, put on some primer, and it only took one coat of paint."

"Wow, I am impressed."

"You don't know how big of a compliment that is coming from you." Warrick smiled, passing Sara her juice.

"I can't believe...this is...wow, amazing. You picked out a beautiful shade." Grissom smiled at Sara.

"Thanks, Warrick helped me pick it out. I put the paint sample in my purse, so I can pick out bedding today when I am with Catherine."

"Don't buy everything Sara; we still need to get you gifts." Warrick smiled. "I'm gonna go get some sleep, unless you need me for anything else."

Sara smiled. "No, you've helped a lot already." She gave him a hug. "That's for being my pain in the ass friend." She laughed.

"You're welcome thanks for being my crazy friend; everyone needs a good crazy friend." Warrick laughed and headed downstairs to leave.

Grissom stood in the middle of the room, a bewildered look on his face.

"What?" Sara questioned.

"It's like the twilight zone."

"What? Why?"

"I leave work and you're completely anti-baby, and I come back to a nursery."

"I wasn't anti-baby. I was anti-change." Sara said confidently.

"So now you're baby crazy?" Grissom asked, still confused about everything that had transpired.

"No. Not baby crazy. I am getting prepared for baby. I am still fairly freaked out and scared that I am going to responsible for a human life. But she is coming, and I have to be ready. So I am getting ready."

"That's good." Grissom finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The whole giving birth thing... I am still MAJORLY freaked out about."

"You watched the video?"

"I watched the video." Sara sighed, subconsciously crossing her legs.


	8. Chapter 8 Onesies

**A/N** - Ok, so this chapter has more of the team in it. I battled a lot with this, I didnt know how much they would really interact with each other if this were to happen...but I came to the decision to do this after re-watching _Dead Doll_, I think after Sara's rescue they would still have that close 'family' vibe going on... I hope you all feel the same, let me know what you think!!!

* * *

Grissom watched Sara as she became engrossed in her book. He had decided to wait up with her until Catherine came to pick her up for some early morning shopping. He had to admit, he liked the Sara he'd come home to, he just wasn't sure if she would be staying. 

There was a knock at the door, and he rushed to let Catherine in.

"Hey Gris! Long time no see!" Catherine joked as she came in.

"Hey Cath, thanks for taking her shopping."

"Oh, it'll be fun; I have been looking forward to this since she called."

"Hey Cath!" Sara smiled as she marked her page in the book and floundered to get up.

"I know pregnant women hate this, but you are getting so big!" Catherine gushed.

"Yeah, I feel like I am learning how to walk again."

"Oh just wait until the wonderful days where all you can do is waddle!" Catherine laughed. "I _hated_ that. I felt like someone could have just rolled me around like a balloon."

"Yeah, can't wait." Sara smirked.

"Well you girls have fun ok?" Grissom smiled, trying to divert Sara's mind off her growing belly.

"We will." Sara kissed Grissom's cheek as she grabbed her purse and left with Catherine.

* * *

Catherine felt like she had been staring at Sara for an hour. Sara just stood there in front of the baby bottles, gift registry gun in hand.

"Sara?"

"Yeah." Sara muttered.

"Are you alright?"

"How can there be so many kinds?" Sara's mind flashed back to the midnight pharmacy run she had made months earlier, she was thankful Catherine was there to help her, not a random stranger.

"Well, let's just stop and think." Catherine said coolly as she walked up to Sara. "I actually didn't have this many choices when Lindsey was born. Bottles were pretty much all the same..."

Sara laughed as suddenly Catherine looked as confused as Sara felt.

"I hear good things about the crooked ones..." Catherine said as she picked up a box.

"Why are they crooked?"

"It helps prevent air bubbles, which prevents gas, which prevents tummy aches and cranky babies."

"Crooked ones win then." Sara said as she zapped the bar codes. "Now what?"

"Ok, now... you'll need bibs, you'll go through a ton of bibs...receiving blankets, you can never have too many of those, and onesies, babies live in onesies for the first few months."

"A _onesie_?"

Catherine almost replied with a smart remark, but stopped herself, realizing Sara had probably never really been around a baby for any amount of time.

"The bodysuits with the snaps at the bottom, so it's easy to change diapers."

"Oh." Sara nodded, even though she had no idea what Catherine was talking about, she follow her and zapped bar codes as she went.

Three aisles later they came across furniture.

"What are you going to register for?" Catherine asked as she eyed up all the cribs.

"Oh, I wouldn't expect one from anyone; I will be buying the furniture. I think maybe I will bring Gil with for this..."

"Good idea." Catherine smiled.

"Warrick and I painted the baby's room last night."

"Really? What color?"

"Lavender, I thought it would be fitting for her name."

"You picked out a name?" Catherine smiled.

"Didn't Gil tell you?"

"No! It's a girl?"

"Yeah! We've picked out Violet as a first name. I can't believe Gil didn't tell you!"

"I believe it, that man doesn't say anything unless it's necessary." Catherine laughed.

"True!" Sara laughed as they went off in search of onesies.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me haul this in." Sara smiled as she and Catherine piled bag after bag on the kitchen table. 

"Don't mention it." Catherine smiled.

"Look, Cath..."

"Don't worry about it; I'm just glad you don't hate me." She smiled and left.

Sara crawled into bed and snuggled next to Grissom.

"Hey sunshine" Grissom smiled

"Hey"

"Did you get lots of good stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Go back to sleep, I need a nap too." Sara smiled before rolling over to her other side.

* * *

Sara awoke hours later to an empty bed; she shuffled into the bathroom and started water for a bath while he put her hair into a pony tail. She heard laughing from the other room. "_Is that Nick?"_ She thought, grabbing a robe and going down the hall. Sara peeked into the nursery to find Grissom, Warrick, and Nick sitting around a bunch of pieces of wood. She quickly pulled back and stood just out of sight listening to their conversations. 

"Ok, we have _how many_ degrees between the three of us? Why can't we figure this out?" Warrick mumbled.

"We don't need any instructions, this cant be that hard." Nick sounded confident.

"I wish I could read Swedish." Grissom grunted.

"Are you sure this is the furniture Sara wanted?" Warrick questioned.

"Catherine wrote the model name down for me while they were shopping today; she called to tell me so I could surprise Sara."

_'She wrote it down? I didn't see her write anything down!'_ Sara thought. _'Maybe I'm losing my touch, being out of the lab.'_

"It's really nice; I just hope it comes out like the picture." Warrick sighed.

"Wont Sara be up soon?" Nick asked.

_'Ahhhh crap!'_ Sara softly tiptoed down the hallway and shut the bathroom door softly. She rushed over and turned off the water, the tub nearly over flowing.

"Hey!"

Sara turned around to see Grissom coming in the room.

"Hey."

"You ok? You look flushed." Grissom came closer to inspect her face.

"Yeah, I was just going to take a bath."

"Ok, sounds good." Grissom kissed her forehead and turned to leave. Sara heard his hurried footsteps going down the hall. She peeked her head out to eavesdrop.

"Sara is up!" Grissom hissed. "She is taking a bath, so we have like 25 minutes to put this thing together!"

Sara laughed and decided she'd take a long bath this time, and shut the door softly.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9 Gilbert

A/N - Ok, in all rights, this should be the second half of the last chapter... but I wanted to wrap up the furniture story line before starting the baby shower chapter (which will be next and will be done today) hence the short chapter! You guys said you liked the team interaction, so I thought I would give you a bit more.

* * *

"Dude, this isn't right..." Nick huffed. 

"I think we have to scrap the surprise guys." Grissom sighed, tossing a wrench to the ground.

"It was a noble idea Gil, but we can't hurry this, it has to be safe." Warrick said.

"Yeah." Grissom sighed. He heard the bathroom door swing open. "Hey Sar! We have company!"

Sara appeared in the doorway. "What's going on here?" She tried to act surprised.

"Well, that was supposed to be a crib." Nick pointed to the pile of wood on the floor.

Sara stifled a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Warrick asked.

"Those bigger pieces over there?" Sara pointed to the floor.

"Yeah?" Nick put his hands on his hips.

"They go to the changing table." Sara smiled.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Warrick eyed up the pile. "Who opened _both_ boxes?"

No one fessed up.

"Oh for crying out loud." Grissom mumbled.

"How about we order in some Chinese and try to figure this out after we feed your brains." Sara laughed as she turned and headed down the stairs. Grissom and Nick followed her down.

"Seriously!" Warrick called after them. "_Who_ opened both boxes??"

* * *

Nick, Warrick, Sara and Grissom sat on the patio eating their dinner; Bruno lay near Sara, receiving the occasional rogue piece of tofu. 

Nick crinkled his nose. "I can't believe that dog will eat that."

"It's good." Sara smiled. "Try some."

"No thanks." Nick smiled.

"Don't forget he's from Texas, he brushes his teeth with steak." Warrick laughed. Nick tossed a piece of his beef at him; Bruno ran over and snatched it off the ground.

"So, you guys ready to give furniture assembly another try?" Sara smiled. "I think I may be able to steer you in the right direction."

"Well then come on smarty pants." Warrick smiled, gathering up his plate to bring inside.

After they had tossed their plates and chopsticks, they headed upstairs. Sara opened up the instructions and looked over them carefully. She grabbed a few pieces of wood and instructed Nick on where to drill the screw in.

An hour later they stood in the middle room, admiring the crib and changing table.

"Good job _boys_." Sara smirked.

Grissom looked over at Nick and Warrick. "The dresser is in the garage, it's already put together, I just need help bringing it up."

Sara watched as Nick and Warrick struggled with the dresser, Grissom instructing them as they went. "You know, you could _help_ them Gilbert."

"Yeah Gilbert." Nick huffed.

"Put it down, put it down." Warrick breathed heavily. They set the dresser down on the kitchen floor, and Warrick bent over, trying to hide his laughter.

Grissom gave him a disapproving look.

"Do you actually call him Gilbert?" Warrick asked between laughs. This brought a very dirty look from Grissom.

"On occasion." Sara smiled.

"That's hilarious." Nick laughed.

Grissom turned his gaze to Nick.

"Ok, let's get this upstairs." Nick said seriously.

* * *

Sara shut the door after waving her goodbyes to Nick and Warrick. 

"That was so sweet of them to come help you." Sara smiled as she sat next to Grissom on the couch.

"Yeah." Grissom mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked.

"I don't know... It's just, I can't even put furniture together."

"You aren't mechanically inclined, so what? You're brilliant with a million other things; you can't be the master of everything."

"What about five years down the road? I can see myself struggling to put together a bicycle until the wee hours of the morning on Christmas, only to fail miserably."

"Oh honey..." Sara whispered. "You can pay extra and have the people at the store put it together."

Grissom smiled and hugged Sara to his chest. "Ice cream?"

"No thank you." Sara smiled. She sat up straight.

Grissom knew a craving had hit her, he wondered if he would have to make a run to the store again.

"Olives." Sara smiled.

Grissom got up and wandered to the fridge, grabbed the olives and a spoon. He handed Sara the jar and spoon, and she eagerly popped the top and starting chomping on the olives.

"Mmm, you're just...too good... to me." Sara sputtered between olives, Grissom watched as she devoured the entire jar of olives in just a few minutes.

"Do we have an onion?" She asked and went into the kitchen.

"An onion?" Grissom followed her to the kitchen and watched in horror as Sara peeled an onion, salted it, and ate it like an apple.

"So good..." Sara spat a little piece onion as she spoke.

Grissom cringed as he watched her eat the entire onion.

"What?" Sara asked when she noticed him staring at her. "Don't judge. You eat bugs."

"Ok then." Grissom sighed. "I am going to shower and head into work."

"Ok." Sara blew him off as she searched the fridge for her next snack.

* * *

Sara waited for Gil to leave; she popped some popcorn, and sat in front of the television. 

"Ok. We are going to get through this whole thing." She told herself as she grabbed the remote and turned on the DVD.

Sara watched intently, as the woman on the screen labored, screaming and grunting.

"You can handle pain, it will be just fine." Sara told herself.

As the woman starting pushing, Sara clicked off the sound. She covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers for a few moments, before shutting the movie off completely.

"Ok. You are a scientist. You are a criminalist. You have seen the worst of the worst at crime scenes. This shouldn't freak you out like this." Sara tried to reason with herself.

Sara glanced over at Bruno. "Maybe we just shouldn't watch this." She told him and grabbed her popcorn and headed upstairs

* * *


	10. Chapter 10 Baby Shower

**A/N** - The baby shower chapter ) Hope you guys like!!

* * *

Sara watched as Catherine struggled with a roll of crepe paper. 

"Warrick, help me!" Catherine moaned as she struggled to hang the streamers from the chandelier. Warrick reached up and finished the roll off for her.

"Can I help with something?" Sara felt useless watching her friends decorate and stir food.

"It's your day Sara; we have it taken care of." Catherine smiled.

Sara wandered outside where Jim and Grissom stood fussing over the grill.

"Do you guys need any help?" Sara smiled.

"We're good." Brass smiled back.

"I need something to do!" Sara sat on a lawn chair and rubbed her stomach.

"You look like you doing well." Jim told her.

"I feel pretty good, the swollen ankles and fingers suck, but that's partially my fault, I've been craving salt for the past week. I can't get enough."

"I saw some potato chips in the house." Grissom smiled.

"Oooh, chips." Sara smiled and got up and went into the house.

Sara munched on potato chips, tossing one every now and then down to the dog.

"How do you think Bruno will do with a new baby?" Nick asked as he shook salad dressing for the salad.

"I don't know...I hadn't thought about it I guess." Sara looked down at her dog, slobber in the corner of his lips.

"I was watching a baby show the other day." Catherine chimed in. "The couple bought a doll, and treated it like a baby, it even cried. They thought it would help the dog get used to the activities you do with a new baby."

"Yeah, I am not doing that." Sara laughed.

"When my sister had a baby, her husband brought home the blanket the baby had been wrapped in, gave it to the dog with a treat inside, so the dog associated the baby smell with a good thing." Nick told her.

"That I might consider doing." Sara nodded.

"Well, Bruno is pretty laid back. I think if you just make sure he gets enough attention too, he'll be cool with the baby." Warrick said as he walked by, patting the dog's head.

"Yeah, he's a good dog." Sara smiled and tossed him another chip.

"Ugh." Sara's hand shot up to her stomach.

Nick rushed over. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just a little cramp." She told him.

"Braxton Hicks contractions?" Catherine asked over her shoulder and she struggled with more crepe paper.

"I think so; I was reading about them last night, I think that's what they are."

"Contractions?" Nick asked, worried.

"Braxton Hicks are harmless." Catherine told him, lots of women get them.

There was a knock at the door and went to open the door, she was greeted by Greg and Doc Robbins.

"Doc!!" Sara smiled. "So glad you could come!"

"I miss seeing you around the lab, I wouldn't miss this." He smiled.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Greg pouted.

"It's good to see you too Sanders." Sara elbowed him and moved aside so her guests could enter.

"Well, I think we're ready to eat, if everyone wants to grab a plate!" Catherine smiled. She called out to Grissom and Jim and everyone gathered in the kitchen, scooping up food.

As they were finishing their food, Catherine stood up and asked for everyone's attention.

"We weren't going to do any games, but we decided to do just one."

Sara looked around confused as Warrick stood up.

"Since this is Vegas, we decided we'd have a friendly wager." He produced a piece of poster board with everyone's names on it. "Next to your name, you will guess the day Sara will deliver, the time, and how much you think Violet will weigh." We will have bets for each category, person with the closet date or weight, wins."

Sara laughed. "Oh that's such a fun idea!" She had missed the bets they always seemed to have going in the lab.

Everyone came up and placed their guesses, including Sara.

"Ok, time for gifts!!" Catherine gushed as she started passing bags to Sara.

Sara plucked the card from the first gift. "This is from Warrick." She smiled as she opened the bag, producing bottles, pacifiers, bottle brushes, and bibs.

"The matching bag is mine too." Warrick smiled.

"Diapers and wipes!" Sara laughed as she pulled them out to show everyone.

Soon the room was filled with baby items and tissue paper everywhere. Catherine had bought a swing, a few outfits, and bottles. Nick had bought a diaper bag, receiving blankets, and lots of onesies. Greg had given her a high chair, and a onesie that read "My dad is a geek, but I still love him". Doc Robbins had given her diapers, bottles, and a savings bond for Violets college fund. Grissom had given Sara a certificate for a maternity massage.

"Thanks so much you guys!" Sara gushed.

"Wait!" Brass stood up." My gift is in the garage."

They watched as he went through the house and came back pushing a stroller.

"Oh Jim!" Sara gushed as she stood up to inspect the stroller.

"I know it isn't what you registered for, but all the celebrities have these, and I have heard really good things." He smiled.

"Oh my god...Jim. This is a _bugaboo_!! It's too much; you have to take it back." Sara backed away from the stroller.

"I'm not taking it back." Jim smiled. "This will be the closest I will probably ever come to being a grandfather... I want Violet to have the best stroller money can buy."

Sara wiped away her tears, Brass wiped away his.

"Oh Jim..." Sara whispered as she hugged him. "You're wonderful. I still think it's too much."

"Too bad, you're keeping it." He laughed.

* * *

The group sat out on the patio, enjoying cheesecake. 

"I have to admit, this was a great." Sara smiled. "I like having you guys here together, I've missed you."

"We've missed you too Sara." Nick smiled. "We should do this more often, especially after Violet comes."

"Definitely." Sara grinned.

They talked and swapped stories until it was time for most of them to leave for work. Catherine and Grissom cleaned up the streamers and did the dishes. They hauled all the baby things upstairs and soon Catherine was leaving for home.

"Hey Sara, what do you want me to do with this high chair?" Grissom called up the stairs.

"Put it next to the counter for now, put that stool in the garage!"

Grissom did as Sara requested, moving the stool into the garage. He came back in and was bagging up the trash when he heard a slight thud upstairs.

"Sara?" He called out. "What is Bruno doing?"

When no answer came, Grissom called out for Bruno who came thundering down the stairs.

"Sara?" He went to the bottom of the stairs, in case she was in the bathroom and couldn't hear him calling.

"SARA!!"

When no answer came, Grissom pounded up the stairs. He saw Sara on the floor in the hallway, and he dropped to his knees.

"Sara!" He lifted her head. "SARA HONEY, WAKE UP!!" He shouted.

Sara muttered something about rabbits and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Gilbert." She smiled.

"Sara, what happened?"

"I was so dizzy." She whispered.

"I am calling for an ambulance." Grissom told her and left her for just a moment to grab the telephone from their bedroom.

Sara lay there, still feeling dizzy, as Grissom told the dispatcher what had happened.

Within a few minutes Grissom was running down the stairs to let the paramedics in. He pointed up the stairs and followed them up. He watched helplessly as the medics put in an IV, asked Sara endless questions, and took her vitals. They loaded her on a stretcher and navigated down the stairs.

"When we arrive at the hospital, she will be brought to labor and delivery, ER doesn't see pregnant women this far into a pregnancy." One of the medics told Grissom as he grabbed his car keys.

Grissom nodded and locked the door behind them, and took off after the ambulance.

* * *

**"**Hypertension." The doctor announced as he came into Sara's room. "Your blood pressure was sky high when they brought you in, it seems to have gone a little bit now, but you need to really watch your salt intake." The doctor told her. 

"What else do we do?" Grissom asked. "Is she in danger? Is the baby in danger?"

"No one is in danger; it's just something your physician will have to monitor. You can limit salt intake, and get some exercise, but don't over do it. We will want you to follow up with your doctor this week, and they can help you make some changes in diet and exercise. Many women who have this problem go on to have a completely normal delivery. I think you should be alright." The doctor smiled. "You can start getting dressed, and I will go ahead and get your discharge papers."

Sara swung her legs from under the cover and reached for her pants. She glanced over and saw Grissom, white as a ghost.

"You ok?"

"No. That scared me to death."

Sara reached over and took his hand.

"Seeing the medics over you, giving you oxygen..."

Sara nodded and laid her head on his chest. "I understand." She whispered.

"I never wanted to feel that again, I was scared for you."

"I'll be ok, Gil. We'll make an appointment and talk this over with the doctors. I'm sure my pressure spiked because I have been eating salt like there is no tomorrow. It'll be ok."

"No more salt." Grissom whispered, kissing Sara on the forehead.

"No more salt." She sighed.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11 Getting there

**A/N** - I am in the process of moving, so I don't know if I will be able to update again until next week, but I will try, I promise to try!

Also! I forgot to add at the beginning of this story, I write these chapters at night, on my lunch break at 2 am. I write them on paper and type them up the next day, I dont have a beta because I like to be able to update frequently - because of that, there are typos, I assure you that english is in fact my first language, and I do know how to speak the language correctly...most of the time you guys can figure out what the typo was meant to say... just want to get that out there!! Enjoy!!

* * *

Sara turned sideways and gasped as she saw her reflection. 

"GIL!!"

Grissom came rushing into the bedroom, his face full of shaving cream, razor in his hand. "Are you ok??"

"No." Sara pouted. "Was I this huge yesterday?"

Grissom closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "I am sure you were the same size as you are now, why?"

"Why didn't you tell me I look like a house?"

"Because you don't." Grissom sighed and turned to go back into the bathroom.

"I don't think I was this big yesterday." Sara called after him.

"Well, you are growing every day." Grissom called back.

"Yeah but this much?" Sara whispered and turned to view herself from behind.

"Was my ass this huge???" She called out.

"Oh for crying out loud." Grissom whispered to himself and turned the water on. "I'm not getting myself into that trap."

Sara reached for the phone and turned to view herself from the front.

"Willows."

"Catherine?"

"Hey Sara!"

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"When you were pregnant, did you wake up one day and realize you were suddenly just huge?"

Catherine laughed. "Yep, you just wake up one day and you feel like you suddenly got really, really pregnant."

"Oh thank goodness, I thought I was losing it." Sara sighed.

"Well, you're 7 1/2 months now, you're getting there."

"Yeah, it's just a weird feeling to wake up and feel like you look completely different."

"It is, and it will happen again when you get closer to the end, the baby will drop and you look different then too, you'll lose your 'shelf'."

"Good to know." Sara laughed. "Or I'd be calling you worried about that too!"

"Call _anytime_ Sara."

"Well I suppose, I am going to try and find some clothes that will fit me, thanks for your help."

"Your welcome, talk to you later."

"Bye Cath."

Sara examined herself in the mirror again, putting her hand on her back and the other on her stomach. "Good God..." She sighed and went to the closet. She pulled on her maternity jeans and a tank top and went into the bathroom.

"Tell me I'm not huge."

"You're not huge." Grissom said flatly as he rinsed his razor.

"Don't say it if you don't mean it." Sara sighed.

Grissom shut off the water, wiped his face with a towel, and walked over to Sara and took her hands in his. "You are not huge." He smiled and kissed her cheek.

Sara wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "I can't even hug you anymore; my belly gets in the way."

"You don't have much farther to go. Nine more weeks and you can hug me."

"Nine weeks..." Sara huffed. "I feel like I have been pregnant for years."

"It'll go by quickly, before you know it Violet will be here." Grissom quickly ran his hand over Sara's stomach and headed downstairs.

Sara came down a few minutes later and Grissom set a bowl of oatmeal on the table. "Here honey, eat. I'll grab the milk and honey."

Grissom set the milk and honey on the table and pulled some fruit salad out of the fridge and put some in a bowl and set in front of Sara as she drizzled honey into her bowl. "Juice or milk?" He asked as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard.

"Apple juice please." She smiled and watched as he filled her glass. He set the juice next to her bowls and sat down and opened his paper, grabbing a piece of toast to munch on.

Sara watched him as he ate. She had watched him do this a million times before; she loved the little routines they had developed together. She wondered how the routines would change once they had a child to care for.

Sara had a vision of Gil rushing around the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal and placing in front of their daughter. Gil would be a good father, she was sure of it. He had read so many books already, he was prepared, and he had practice, caring for Sara. She thought back to the first few days she was home after being released from the hospital; how he had carefully wrapped her cast in a garbage bag and softly washed her hair as she sat in the tub. Before she knew it she was crying. Gil dropped his paper and came over to kneel next to her.

"Honey what's the matter?"

"You're...sniff...going to be...sniff...a really good dad." Sara cried and covered her face with her hands.

"Oh honey." Grissom stood up and hugged her head to his chest.

"At least...sniff...she will have...sniff...one good parent." Sara sobbed.

"Sara." Grissom's voice was a little more stern. "You are going to be a good mother. I know this all doesn't come very naturally to you, but you are going to do great. You excel at everything you do. You will be a good mother." Grissom put his hand under Sara's chin and pulled her face up. "You will." He assured her.

Sara burst into tears again and put her head on the table.

"What's the matter now?" Grissom asked softly as he started rubbing his hand on her back.

"I don't know!" Sara sputtered.

Grissom couldn't help it, he started to laugh. Sara's face shot up and she pouted at him before laughing herself.

"This is nuts." She giggled. "I can't wait to be myself again!"

_'Same here'_ Grissom thought as he went back to his paper.

* * *

"Well Mrs. Grissom you are getting there!" The doctor smiled as she raised the head of Sara's bed. "Violet is measuring 36 weeks 4 days, she's right on schedule." 

"We'll see you next week then?" Sara asked the doctor as she motioned for Grissom to grab her clothes.

"See you next week." The doctor smiled and left Sara to change.

"One more month." Grissom smiled as Sara wiped the goo off her belly so she could pull on her pants.

"Damn it Gil." Sara sighed and sat back on the bed.

"What?" He asked, unsure of what he had done this time.

"My shoes don't match."

Grissom looked down, and sure enough Sara had one blue flip flop, one green.

"Sorry." He half smiled at her.

"Well this is just super." She sighed as she wiggled her toes into her shoes.

"We'll go straight home, it'll be ok." Grissom assured her as he ushered her out the door.

* * *

Sara sat cross legged in the nursery folding clothes as Grissom took his shower before work. She grimaced and put her hand to her stomach. 

"I will not miss these Braxton Hicks." She sighed and continued folding the tiny onesies on her belly.

Grissom came in and smiled as he watched Sara rearranging a few things in the room, dusting as she went. "You appear to be nesting." He smiled.

"I am not!" She insisted. "I just want things to be clean in here."

"Ok, sweetheart." He knew better than to disagree with her. "I'm going to head in; do you need anything before I go?"

Sara waddled over. "Nope, but thanks for asking." She smiled before giving him a kiss goodbye. "Have a good night."

"See you in the morning." He smiled and headed down towards the garage.

* * *

Sara sat on the patio, enjoying the breeze, it had been nearly 98 degrees that day and she was finally starting to cool down. She reached to pat Bruno's head when a pain shot through her side. 

"Ohhhhhh" She breathed as the pain subsided. "C'mon Bruno." She motioned for the dog to come in as she got up and headed in the house." We have to call Catherine again."

As Sara shut the door behind her, she was blinded by more pain in her stomach. "Violet, stop that." She scolded her stomach. She reached for the phone and felt a trickle down her leg. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Did I just pee my pants? You have to be kidding." She waddled up the stairs and started the shower. She grabbed clean clothes and got into the warm water and quickly washed up. She dried herself off and slipped on the sundress she'd brought in. Another trickle ran down her leg. She was about to curse when she remembered Catherine warning her that if her water broke, it wouldn't be the gush that they showed in movies.

"No no no no!!!" Sara started to panic. "It's not time! No No No!!!!!!!"

She rushed into the bedroom and grabbed the phone. She dialed and paced around the room.

"Willows."

"Catherine! Oh my god! Tell me I peed myself!"

"What? What's going on? You peed yourself?" Catherine looked around and realized she was still in the break room awaiting assignments. Bewildered faces stared back at her.

"Ok guys..." Grissom started as he walked into the room. Catherine quickly put up a finger to shush him.

"Did you sneeze? Because towards the end I would sneeze or laugh too hard, and I would pee a little." Catherine asked, bringing on weird looks from everyone in the room.

"No, I didn't sneeze. I was outside and I had a pretty bad cramp so I came in, and I had another one, and then I think I peed myself, so I showered and when I got out it happened agai...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Sara ended with a grunt.

"Ok. Sara?"

"Yeah?" Sara breathed heavily.

"Your water broke. Sit down and wait for Gil to come home. You have to go in."

Grissom dropped the papers he was holding and stared at Catherine.

Catherine cupped the phone and looked at him. "What are you staring at? GO!"

Grissom ran down the hallway, nearly knocking Judy over as he went.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12 Grand Entrance!

A/N - Ok, I hurried to get this up for you guys so I wouldn't leave you hanging

**A/N - Ok, I hurried to get this up for you guys so I wouldn't leave you hanging!! So be on the look out for those typos! I will not be able to update again until after the weekend!**

**I hope you guys like!!**

Grissom grabbed his keys from his desk and bolted back out of his office; he ran outside and jumped into the car. He fumbled with the keys, dropping them twice before finally getting them into the ignition. He peeled out of the parking lot and sped down the highway, he tried calling home, but the line was busy. He worried for a moment before realizing Sara was probably still on the phone with Catherine.

"Ok Sara, how long has it been since your first contraction?" Catherine was trying to keep calm.

"About thirty minutes."

"Ok, that's good. Just slow your breathing down and try to calm yourself." Catherine looked over to see three anxious faces staring at her. She cupped the phone "You guys grab an assignment and figure it out amongst yourselves." She told them quietly. Warrick, Nick and Greg walked away disappointed. "Sara?"

"Yeah."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. I just, I didn't even have my bag packed yet."

Catherine could hear rustling in the background and knew Sara was trying to get a bag together. "We'll worry about that later, you just concentrate on keeping calm until Gil gets there. Ok?"

"Ok." Sara started down the stairs. She sat at a chair at the kitchen table and started to cry.

"Sara what's wrong?" Catherine started to worry.

"I couldn't even finish watching the birthing video! How am I supposed to do this?"

"You will do it. You will do it just like million of women before you. You may not be prepared for this, but your body is. Ok?"

"Ohhhhhhh."

"Breathe through it Sara." Catherine listened as Sara breathed. "Good. In and out, nice slow, deep breaths."

"This can only get worse..." Sara sighed.

"I know it will Sara, but you can do it, you are _strong_."

"I don't think I am strong enough to get through this."

"Sara. I _know_ how strong you are. You will be fine."

"I think I hear Gil's car, how did he get here so fast?"

"He probably went double the speed limit." Catherine sighed. "Ok, you call me later."

"I will."

"Good luck Sara."

"Thanks Cath." She grunted and hung up the phone.

"Ughhhhhhhhh." Sara screamed as the pain shot through her again.

Grissom came in just in time to see Sara double over and scream. He ran to her side and grabbed her hand.

"Ok." Sara breathed heavily. "Let's go."

Sara changed into her gown and lay back on the bed, so the doctor could get the fetal monitors started.

"Oh Sara, we'll put this one here... and this one here." The doctor smiled as she put the monitors on. "I will come back in a few minutes to see how we're doing, and I'll do my exam then ok?"

"Ok." Sara said, shifting her weight so she could face Grissom, sitting in the chair next to her bed, looking like a lost child.

"You alright?" Sara asked.

"I'm supposed to ask you that." He smiled.

"I'm doing ok for now."

"You'll be ok." He assured her.

The doctor came back and looked at the read outs from the monitors and nodded her head. "You're moving along! Let's see what's going on in there!" She smiled as she washed her hands in the sink.

Sara rolled her eyes; she knew it wouldn't take long for her doctor to drive her crazy. Sara grimaced as the doctor checked her, she reached for Grissom's hand and squeezed as hard she could.

"Relax your muscles sweetie!" The doctor's face popped up. Sara rolled her eyes at Grissom, who stifled a laugh.

"My my my!" The doctor smiled, taking of her gloves. "Someone is anxious to come out and meet mommy and daddy! You are at 6 centimeters already!"

The doctor threw the gloves away and came to stand at Sara's bedside. "At this point you need to decide what you're going to doing to do, I know we don't have a birth plan in place."

"What do you mean?" Grissom asked.

"Well, this may very well be your last chance to get an epidural. If not, you'll be doing this naturally."

"No, no drugs." Sara shook her head.

"Ok then! I will go ahead and come back in an hour to see how much progress you have made. In the meantime daddy, two rooms down the hall, to your left, you will find a room with water and ice, and a small fridge with juices. Please feel free to buzz a nurse if you need anything else!"

Sara nodded, anxious to get rid of the doctor.

"Do you need anything?" Grissom asked softly.

"No. Ughhhhhhh." Sara breathed through another contraction and watched Grissom as he nearly pressed his nose to a monitor.

"What are you doing?" Sara asked as she repositioned herself after the contraction.

"That is just amazing!" Grissom whispered.

"Yeah, it's wonderful. I changed my mind; I need ice, or something." Sara grunted, not able to get a good footing in the bed as she tried to scoot up.

Grissom wandered down the hall and got a cup of ice for Sara, as he headed back the doctor waved him down.

"I forgot to ask! Will there be anyone else attending the birth? If there will be you may want to call them sooner rather than later."

"Umm, we hadn't discussed it, maybe, let's ask Sara." He smiled, and they headed into the room.

"Sara?"

"Yeah, what?" She was still struggling to scoot up in the bed.

"Did you want anyone else to be here when Violet is born?"

Sara stopped and looked at Grissom like he had lost his mind.

Grissom quickly turned around and told the doctor "It will just be us."

"Great!" The doctor smiled and left them alone.

"What are you nuts? Did you lose your mind on the way down the hall to get me ice?"

"No, she asked and I didn't know, I mean we hadn't talked about this at all, and you and Catherine have been on the phone non-stop for weeks... I just didn't... I mean... I'm sorry." Grissom shrugged.

"I'm sorry Gil... I'm a little stressed at the moment. She wasn't supposed to be here for another month!"

"I know sweetheart." Grissom walked over and kissed her head, and placed the cup on her table. He leaned over and looked at the monitor. "Oh here comes another one..." He turned to see Sara gripping the bed rails for dear life.

"I know." She hissed.

A few hours later Sara laid in bed, sweaty, tired, and enduring another exam. The doctor's head popped up and gave Sara that sickening smile.

"Ready to push mommy?"

"God yes! Get her out!!" Sara grunted.

"You're doing an amazing job Sara!" The doctor gushed. "For your first baby you've moved right along! I was in labor for 36 hours with my first! It's only been six for you!" She smiled as a nurse helped her put on a protective gown and shoe covers.

"Yeah good for you." Sara moaned as another contraction came.

"You go ahead and push if you need to honey! I'm right here." The doctor smiled.

"What do I do?" Grissom asked.

"You go head and stand next to mommy, hold her hand, and in a few moments, Ill have you hold that leg up ok?"

Sara grunted as she pushed down.

"Oh my goodness!" The doctor squealed and sat on her stool in front of Sara. "You waste no time! Here she comes! Daddy, grab her right leg and pull it back."

"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Sara screamed as another contraction came.

"Push honey push!" The doctor told her. "Okay, okay! Head is out!! I'm just going to feel for a cord... no cord! Good! Ok honey push as hard as you can with the next one, the shoulders are going to take more work." The doctor smiled up at her. "You want to see? Look down and see!"

"I DON'T WANT TO SEE!!" Sara screamed and gripped Grissom's hand so tight he lost feeling in his fingers. Sara gave another push and exhaled heavily as the doctor pulled the baby out.

"Violet is here!!" The doctor shouted just before the baby in her arms started to wail.

Sara tried to scoot up and see what they were doing as the doctors and nurses huddle around the baby across the room.

"Is she ok? Is she ok??" Grissom asked.

"Go over there and watch over her!!" Sara scolded him and watched as he headed over to the warmer.

"Ok Sara." The doctor smiled and sat in front of her again. "We'll deliver after birth, and then daddy will bring over the baby."

"No bring her here now! I want to see her now!!" Sara demanded. She watched as a nurse placed the baby in Grissom's arms and he cautiously walked over.

"Here's mom." Grissom smiled as Sara took the baby from his arms.

"Oh my god." Sara whispered. "We made a baby."

"That we did." Grissom smiled.

"I love her." Sara looked up at Grissom.

"You sound shocked." Grissom looked confused.

"I guess I am." Sara said. She had prepared herself to have a child; she just never realized how much love she would feel in those first few moments.

Sara kissed the baby's nose before handing her back to the nurse, so she could get weighed and measured.

"I'm going to call Catherine." Grissom smiled as he picked up the phone.

"Willows."

"Violet has made her entrance."

"OH MY GOD!!"

Grissom held the phone away from his ear as Catherine screamed.

"That was fast! Oh my god. Is she ok? Is Sara ok? How did Sara do? Is she..."

"Cath, Cath!" Grissom nearly yelled into the phone.

"Oh sorry!"

"It was fast, but everyone is ok! Happy and healthy!"

"Can we stop by after shift?? Will two hours be enough time for things to settle down?"

Grissom cupped the phone. "Can they visit?"

Sara quickly nodded.

"Yeah, come on over, we're in room 2023."

"I'm going to call the boys! I'll see you soon!"

"See you soon!"

Nick, Warrick, Catherine, Greg, and Brass walked into the room quietly, each toting balloons or flowers. Sara smiled as they came in.

"Come on in! She's awake." She smiled.

They gathered around the bed and stared at the tiny baby in Sara's arms.

"She looks like you." Warrick whispered.

"She has Gil's eyes." Nick noted.

"She is gorgeous." Brass cooed.

"She is, she is beautiful." Catherine smiled.

"You guys make a cute baby, that's for sure." Greg added.

"Hey Gris, you want to go get some breakfast in the cafeteria?"

Grissom looked at Sara.

"Go." She smiled. "You need to eat something."

"I'm going to stay." Catherine told them, and watched as the guys walked out.

"So, how was it?"

"It was horrible." Sara smiled. "My doctor is so damn bubbly, Gil was just annoying, and it was the most intense pain I have ever felt, and now, I'm soooo sore."

"Ugh, I remember that." Catherine said. "Just be sure to steal one of the peri bottles to take home."

"Here." Sara smiled and motioned for Catherine to take the baby. Catherine smiled as she scooped the baby up and stared at her tiny face.

"What were her stats?" Catherine smiled as she sat in the chair next to the bed.

"APGAR score was 9. She weight 5 pounds 6 ounces, and she is 18 inches long."

"You are a tiny little girl Miss Violet Grissom." Catherine whispered to the baby.

"Violet Neveah Grissom." Sara smiled.

"Neveah?" Catherine question.

"Heaven, backwards." Sara told her.

"Gil?"

"Gil." Sara nodded.


	13. Chapter 13 Home

A/N- Ok, so I had a few questions after the last chapter. Neveah is pronounced Nuh-Vay-Uh, and is actually my niece's middle name. An Apgar score is taken twice after birth, to assess how the baby is doing and if any additional medical help is needed. APGAR stands for Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, and Respiration. A 'perfect' score is a 10...

* * *

After their visitors had left, Sara was finally able to rest and get a nap. 

Grissom sat peering into the eyes of his daughter. She lay in her bassinet, looking at the world around her.

"Dr. Grissom?" Grissom turned to see a nurse standing at the door.

"Yes?"

"Would you like me to take Violet to the nursery?"

"No thank you, we were told we could keep with us."

"Oh, of course, but if you wanted to get some rest, we would take good care of her."

"I know you would, but I'd like to keep her here."

"Ok. Feel free to turn on the call light if you need anything." The nurse smiled and left.

Grissom was tired, but he didn't want Sara to wake up and find him sleeping and Violet gone. He turned his gaze back to his daughter, still wide awake.

"The doctor told me you would be sleeping all day." He whispered at her. She turned her gaze to his face, following the sound of his voice. Grissom peeked over the bed to make sure Sara was still asleep. He stood up and lifted Violet from her bed, and cradled her in his arms. He walked to windows and starting talking to her softly.

"You see that? That's Las Vegas! And waaaay over there by those big rocks is your house! We have a room all ready for you, and you have a doggie, and a big backyard, and someday I will have a swing set put out there for you."

Sara opened her eyes and eavesdropped on the conversation Grissom was having with their daughter.

"And you'll go to school, and mommy and daddy will help you with your homework. You're going to be beautiful and smart, just like your mom." Grissom stopped and looked down at the baby in his arms.

"I'm going to have to chase the boys away with a stick!" He laughed as he told her.

Sara quickly shut her eyes as Grissom turned around and sat in the chair.

"Oh Violet." He whispered. "You were quite a surprise, but mommy and daddy love you. You remember that ok?"

Sara pretended to stretch and wake up, and she smiled at Grissom. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiled. "I was just having a talk with our daughter."

"Was it about bugs or lizards?" Sara smiled.

"Neither..." Grissom smiled and started rocking the baby in his arms. "I don't see why they say the first few days are so hard; she has been awake for half an hour and hasn't made a peep!"

"Maybe we're lucky." Sara smiled, and got up and waddled to the bathroom.

* * *

Grissom opened the door for Sara and she called out for Bruno. "Did you do the blanket with the treat inside of it?" She turned and asked Grissom. 

"Yes I did." Grissom smiled as he lugged in the car seat.

"BRUNO!!!" Sara smiled as the dog came down the stairs. Sara rubbed his head for a few moments before the dog turned his attention to the baby carrier.

"Be gentle." Sara warned as she removed the blanket that had been covering Violet's face. Bruno sniffed a little before deciding it was no big deal and headed for the back door, ready to be let out.

"That went well." Grissom laughed as he hurried to let the dog outside.

Sara unfastened Violet from the carrier and lifted her up. "Well, you're home." Sara smiled as she headed up the stairs to change her and lay her in the crib.

As Sara was fastening the last snap on the onesie Violet began to cry. Sara sat in the rocker and tried to feed her, but she wanted no part of it.

Grissom came up the stairs and stood in the doorway of the nursery. "What's the matter?" He asked as he came to take the screaming baby from Sara's arms.

"I don't know!" Sara sighed, I changed her and she started crying! She won't nurse; I don't know what to do!"

"It'll be ok, she is in a new place, and maybe she is just scared." Grissom rocked her back and forth, trying to settle her down.

* * *

"Gil it's been an hour!!" Sara was in tears as the baby in her arms continued to scream. 

"I'm out of ideas." He sighed as he took Violet and tried to rock her again.

"What if she is hurt? What if I hurt her?" Sara wiped the tears from her cheeks and sat in the rocking chair.

"I am sure you didn't hurt her."

"What if I did?? Oh my god, it's starting already, I haven't had our daughter home 2 hours and I am already failing as a mother.

Grissom struggled to get a game plan together; he had a screaming baby, and a frantic wife. "Call Catherine" He sputtered.

"No! She doesn't need to know I'm a bad mother too!!!" The tears starting pouring from Sara's eyes again.

"Then call that number the nurse gave you when you were discharged, the nurse line for newborns."

Sara went down the stairs, grimacing in pain as she went. She frantically shuffled through the papers she had been given at the hospital and finally found the number.

"Shhhhhhh...Violet, it's going to be ok." Grissom whispered at her as he brought her to his chest. He patted her back a few times, and heard a burp. He stood up and rocked her a little bit and she finally started to quiet down.

"Of course." He sighed. "Of course it was something simple." He laid her down in the crib and watched her for a few moments before heading downstairs. Sara was pacing with the phone to her ear.

"Yes, yes, thank you." She said and put the phone down. "It might be colic...wait, where is she?"

"Drifting off to sleep." Grissom smiled.

"How..."

"She had to burp."

"You're kidding me right?" Sara sighed.

"Nope... how about you draw a bath and take a soak, then you should nap. The doctor said you should sleep when she sleeps."

"But..."

"I'm going to grab my book, and read it in her room. I'll make sure she is ok." Grissom kissed Sara's forehead, leaned to grab his book from the shelf and went back upstairs.

Sara grabbed the phone and waddled up the stairs to take a bath.

* * *

"Brown." 

"Warrick, it's Sara."

"Hey! How's Miss V?"

"Well, she cried for over an hour when we got home, but turned out she needed to be burped."

"Well, that's good."

"No it isn't!"

"It isn't?"

"Warrick, how could I overlook something so simple? I'm her mother; I am supposed to know what to do."

"Kids don't come with instructions Sara, and you're new at this."

"I am feeling extremely overwhelmed here."

"I'm sorry Sara. But you know, you are probably going to have that feeling for a while, and you'll get it over and over again as she grows up."

"You know Warrick, you're a pal."

"Good to know motherhood hasn't snatched your sarcasm." He laughed

Sara laughed, and let out a sigh. "This is going to be a long road."

"Well, we will all be here when you need us. Don't be too proud to ask for help either Sara."

Sara smiled as they said their goodbyes, and sunk into the tub of warm water.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14 Triumph

**A/N -** Ok so, I dont have internet in my new home just yet, and with my current work schedule and the holidays, I dont know when I will be getting it (I'm never home long enough during day time hours to sit around and wait for the internet guy). So I will try and continue to update from other computers. This is just a shorty chapter to wrap up Violet's infancy, I have decided to make new chapters a journey through Violet, Sara, and Grissom's life as Violet grows up. Hope that'll be ok with you guys!!!

* * *

Sara kissed Grissom goodbye and watched as he pulled out of the driveway. It was his first night back after taking two weeks off to be home with Sara and Violet. 

Sara turned to the sleeping baby in the bassinet next to the couch. She pulled her robe tighter around her waist and sat down. "This will be the real test." Sara whispered.

Sara knew she had been relying too much on her husband when it came to caring for their daughter. If she fussed too long, she passed her to Grissom to calm her. If Sara needed more time to sleep, she let Grissom get up and tend to the baby.

"Its not that I don't like you." Sara whispered to the sleeping child. "I love you in fact." She smiled. "You just scare me a little." Sara laughed quietly.

Bruno appeared at the foot of the stairs and looked at Sara knowingly. Sara smiled and got up to let the dog out. After letting the dog outside, she turned to go back into the living room, knocking over a stool in the process.

Violet's wails filled the house and Sara automatically reached for the phone. She stopped herself before she dialed Grissom and ran into the living room. She quickly picked up her crying daughter and held her to her chest.

"Shhhhhhhh, Violet. Mommy's so sorry she's clumsy." Sara cooed.

Sara was amazed as her daughter stopped crying and Sara softly rubbed her cheek. Violet turned her head, trying to stick Sara's finger in her mouth.

"Hungry?" Sara giggled and sat on the couch. She propped a throw pillow under her arm and sighed as she made yet another attempt to nurse her daughter.

Violet anxiously began feeding and Sara's eyes filled with tears. "Oh my god... You did it. You did it on the first try this time!" Sara couldn't stop the tears as she watched her daughter eat.

After Violet had been burped and changed, Sara laid the sleeping baby back into her bassinet. She quickly let the dog back in, careful not to trip on anything this time, and grabbed the phone and headed back to the living room.

"Grissom"

"I know I promised not to bug you."

"Is everything ok? What's the matter?"

"No, Gil." Sara started bawling as she tried to find her words.

"Sara?"

"Gil. I comforted her! And then I nursed her! She latched on the first try!!" Sara mumbled through her tears.

"Oh honey." Sara swore she could hear Grissom smiling. "Sara, that's wonderful. I'm so glad its going well."

"Ok, I'll let you get back to work, I'm sure you're very busy after being off for two weeks."

"Actually Catherine held it down pretty well, even kept up on the paperwork. I was just about to hand out assignments and show off the pictures we took of Violet at the park yesterday."

"Ok, well I will try not to bother you anymore tonight."

"You can always call sweetheart."

"Ok, see you in the morning. I love you."

"I love you too, and kiss my daughter for me."

* * *

Sara was nursing when Grissom came in the kitchen.

"How are my two favorite girls?" He asked as he gave each of them a kiss on the head.

"We're great." Sara smiled.

"That's great." Grissom ran his fingers through Sara's hair and planted a soft kiss on her smiling lips.

"So how's work?"

"Same old stuff." Grissom smiled. "Everyone loved the pictures. They can't believe how big she's gotten already."

"Yeah she is getting big." Sara smiled as she sat Violet up to burp her.

"Why don't I do that? You take a nice hot bath, then I'll change her and bring her to bed, maybe we can all get some sleep at the same time." Grissom smiled.

Sara carefully handed off Violet and headed upstairs, she stopped at the landing to eavesdrop on her husband talking to their daughter about colony collapse disorder; she smiled to herself and went up to run her bath water.

* * *


	15. Chapter 15 Six Months Old

A/N - I know, I know... Another short chapter... but, after the weekend I had, I am impressed I even had time to kick this out! But I am already at work on the next chapter, desperately trying to update as often as I can sans-internet access at home. Hope you like...

* * *

Six Months 

Sara watched as her daughter bobbed back and forth on her hands and knees.

"C'mon baby girl, you can do it." Sara smiled as she patted the ground in front of her, trying desperately to get her daughter to move towards her.

Violet simply laid on her stomach and let out a happy squeal.

Sara sighed and got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. She filled her glass, took a sip and headed back to the living room.

Sara nearly dropped her glass as she saw her daughter awkwardly crawling toward a sleeping Bruno.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod." Sara sputtered as tears formed in her eyes, she was about to reach for the phone when Violet reached the resting pooch and bit him in the foot.

Bruno pulled his leg away and looked at the baby as if she'd lost her mind. Violet started for him again and he got up and slowly walked away.

Sara called out for Bruno but the dog was already up the stairs.

"Violet!" Sara squealed as the mass of wobbling dark hair came towards her. "You did it!!" She reached down and picked her up. Violet wiggled anxiously in her arms, desperately wanting to get down and perfect her newly found craft.

"Ok, ok." Sara laughed as she set her daughter back down, and reminded herself to tell Grissom how right she was in baby proofing the house the week before. Sara glanced at the clock, and realized he would be home soon. She snatched up her daughter who was already on her way to into the kitchen and put her in her highchair.

Violet giggled and laughed as she played with a toy as Sara heated up her cereal.

"How are my girls?" Grissom smiled as he came into the kitchen.

"OHMYGODDDDDDDDD!!" Sara sped across the kitchen and pulled her daughter out of her highchair. "Look!!!" Sara exclaimed as she set her daughter down on the cool linoleum.

Violet gurgled at Grissom as stuck her fingers in her mouth.

"Yep, prettier than when I left her!" Grissom smiled and walked toward the gurgling baby.

"No!" Sara shouted, startling both Violet and Grissom. "Go across the room."

Grissom sighed and walked to the other side of the kitchen. "What is going on Sar..." He was stunned into silence as he watched his daughter lean forward, rock on her hands and knees a few times and then promptly took off, headed for the living room.

"Oh my..." He sputtered

"I KNOW!!!" Sara jumped up and down a few times before taking off after Violet.

Sara came back in, smothering her daughter with kisses. She set her back in the high chair and fetched the oatmeal off the counter.

"The doctor said to expect her to crawl around seven or eight months." Grissom said, still in shock.

"Yeah, well, she's a Grissom!" Sara smiled as she scooped up some oatmeal. "The book says they can start as early as five or six months, and I just knew she could do it, we worked on it last night and this morning." Sara beamed as she fed the spoonful of mush to her happy infant.

"Well someone is a fast learner!" Grissom cooed as he bent down to kiss his daughter; he was met with a fist full of oatmeal instead.

Sara laughed hysterically as Grissom frantically wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. "It's oatmeal, not poison!"

Grissom sighed and closed his eyes, mouthing to himself as he counted to ten.

"What?" Sara asked seriously.

Grissom sighed again and open his eyes. "This shirt is dry clean only."

Sara couldn't help it, she burst out laughing.


	16. Chapter 16 One Year Old

**A/N** - Ok, I did it! New chapter is up, but I'm unsure when I can get the next one finished and up...but I'll try to make it sooner rather than later, I promise!! As always, I love your reviews, they are very very helpful and always make me want to write more!!! Oh and also, as always, I am typing these up very fast (this time even faster, on my breaks at work!) so I am sorry for those rogue typos!!

* * *

One Year 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS VIIIIIIIOLET...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

Sara assisted her daughter with candle and clapped as she tried to blow it out. Violet immediately scooped her hand in the cake and shoved some into her mouth.

"There is another cake in the house..." Sara smiled as the group huddled around the birthday watched her make a mess out of the first cake.

"That was smart Sara." Warrick smiled. "Getting a second cake."

"Yeah, she is really into smashing up food these days, so I figured I'd need two cakes."

"You know, you've come a long way in a year." Warrick told her as they went into the house to get the second cake.

"Yeah, Gil says the same thing...I don't know."

"You're a great mother." Warrick assured her as he gathered up plastic cutlery and paper plates.

"I feel like I lost a lot of myself to motherhood." Sara sighed.

"I know it won't make you feel better, but every woman feels like that after having a baby." Catherine chimed in as she came in for cups. "And it doesn't get any better from here on out."

"Thanks Cath." Warrick said sarcastically.

"I'm serious." Catherine said. "I'm not going to sugar coat it for her." She glared at Warrick.

"Still here." Sara said softly, raising her hand.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you." Catherine smiled at her. "Do you get 'me' time every week?"

"Me time?" Sara looked confused.

"That's a 'no' then." Catherine put her hand on her hip. "Well, I will have to talk to Dr.Grissom then."

"Oh, no, that's ok." Sara smiled and picked up the second cake to bring outside, Catherine on her heels.

"Gil." Catherine stopped in front of Grissom.

"That look is never good." Grissom frowned.

"Sara doesn't get 'me' time, and that has to change."

"Sara is more than welcome to spend time with you; you'll have to talk to her about tha..."

"No you fool! Not ME time... ME time!"

Grissom looked at Catherine as if she'd lost her mind.

"Oh come _on_!" Catherine sighed. "Let's start over then. Does Sara get time to herself on a regular basis?"

"When I come home from work I make her tea and she gets a bath."

"That's not time to herself, I mean like... time _out_ of the house."

"She can have time out of the house anytime..."

"You need to make sure she gets time out of the house without Violet. You also need to make sure you two get time together without Violet."

"What brought this on Catherine?" Grissom raised his eyebrow at her.

"Warrick" Catherine said flatly.

"No, not Warrick." Warrick appeared at Grissom's side. "Sara did, _not _Warrick."

"Sara?" Grissom turned to question his wife.

"Ok, you know what, NOT birthday party conversation." Sara snapped. "Gil, we can talk later." Sara went about snapping pictures of her daughter smearing herself with pink and purple frosting.

"And your work here is done." Warrick nodded at Catherine and headed over to talk to Brass.

"Sara doesn't get _me_ time?" Nick asked he walked to the patio.

"Careful there Stokes." Catherine smirked and walked over to take some pictures of her own.

* * *

"I'm going to have to have Greg, Nick, and Warrick all come back to put this crap together." Sara sighed as she stared at the pile of birthday gifts in the kitchen. "Next year I will warn them, if it reads "some assembly required" you have to bring your own screwdriver and put it together for her." 

"Are you mad that I haven't thought to give you time to yourself?" Grissom asked quietly.

Sara stopped and set her screwdriver on the counter. "Gil, it's fine. I know that if at anytime I wanted to go out by myself you would be more than happy to let me have that time."

"I'm glad you know that." Grissom smiled as he got up and took the screwdriver. "But maybe Cath is right, maybe you need to take the time and go do things on your own, or with your friends. Maybe you need to _make_ the time to do it." Grissom struggled with the toy as he tightened in some screws. "And the guys are always offering to watch Violet, Catherine and Linds practically beg; maybe we should take them up on it and go out for a nice dinner sometime."

"Dinner alone..." Sara pondered the idea out loud.

"Yeah." Grissom smiled as he tightened the last screw, he set the screwdriver down to admire his work and bumped the switch on the side of the toy filling the house with a rousing rendition of 'Old McDonald had a farm'.

"PLAY!" Came a squeal from upstairs.

"Dammit." Sara lowered her head and headed for the stairs.

* * *

Grissom was straightening his tie in the bedroom mirror when he heard the doorbell. "You got that Sara?" He called out. 

"Yeah!" Sara called back as she fumbled to get her left high heel on and get to the door.

"Hi!" Sara's smiled turned to confusion as she was met with half a dozen faces.

"You know, they say it takes a village to raise a child." Catherine smiled meekly as Brass, Nick, Warrick, Greg, and Lindsay shuffled in, each holding a book or toy.

"What in the world?" Sara whispered as she watched them all fawn over Violet in her highchair.

"Lindsay invited Warrick... and Nick had hurt feelings, so I played it off and invited him too. I actually invited Jim, before I knew Linds invited Warrick... I'm so sorry Sara." Catherine shook her head.

"And Greg?"

"Greg felt left out." Catherine lowered her voice. "That was a bit of a mercy invite."

"Whatever." Sara sighed softly.

"Look, I will tell them to leave, these seems ridiculous now seeing us all together like this..." Catherine started in.

"No, I didn't mean whatever... like _that_, I mean its fine." Sara smiled. "As long as Greg is never alone with her, I like her hair brown not pink." Sara's grin grew wider.

"Well, Greg and Nick have to work later anyway, so they'll be leaving."

"How late do you think we'll be?" Sara questioned glancing at the clock.

"Be as late as you want to be." Catherine smiled. "Although it's probably useless to say that. The first time Eddie and I were alone after we had Lindsay; I called the sitter every ten minutes and cut the dinner short to rush home to tuck her in."

Sara smiled. "I promise I won't call every ten minutes...perhaps every twenty. You know, just to make sure her hair isn't pink."

Catherine smiled and went to join the group, still fawning over the baby in the highchair.

Grissom came down the stairs and let out a small whistle as Sara twirled her skirt for him. He pulled her in for a kiss, stopping just short of her lips as he caught the cluster of people in his kitchen out of the corner of his eye.

"Gil. I handled it. Don't say anything; let's just escape while she is preoccupied." Sara smiled as Grissom turned to wave at his guests.

"We're going to go Cath." Sara smiled. "Gil has his cell if you need to reach us, her info is on the fridge, there is a list of food she can't eat, and a list of food that has to be cut up if you give it to her, but she should be good now, just a bottle before bed."

"You guys have a good time, she'll be just fine." Catherine smiled as they snuck through the kitchen and into the garage.

Sara waved at Catherine as the garage door closed and they pulled out of their driveway.

"What was that about?" Grissom asked as they turned the corner.

"I'll tell you at dinner." Sara smiled as she reached over and grabbed his hand.

"I swear to God, if I come home and her hair is green..."

Sara used her other hand to stifle a laugh.


	17. Chapter 17 Parents night out

**A/N** - Ok I am pretty proud I got this up today! After the holidays and unpacking and general ucki-ness I've got going on, I needed some fluff, so this one is gonna be a little fluffy... I know I was really emotional and 'fluffy' about life when my daughter turned a year old, it's a big moment in a mom's life as well as the baby's. So here ya go!

* * *

"Well, I guess that's what we get for not letting any of them baby-sit before tonight." Grissom smiled as Sara relayed the story of how Violet had ended up with so many sitters. 

Sara giggled softly as she took a sip of her wine. "The way I see it, we're blessed they all wanted to come."

"_Blessed_?" Grissom questioned.

"Yes, _blessed_. We don't have close family, she doesn't have any real uncles or aunts or cousins, we are all she has in this world in the way of real family. But, she has a group of wonderful people who want to be there for her, and become the family she doesn't have." Tears formed in Sara's eyes as she spoke.

Grissom reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "We're all lucky in that respect I suppose." He smiled.

"I really am grateful for them." Sara nodded. "They have been so involved in her life, even before she was born. When she gets older, we have stories we can tell her about how loved she was by everyone from the very beginning."

"Yeah, I suppose we will have quite a few stories to tell her."

Sara's eyes lit up as she though about the stories out loud. "Daddy, and uncle Nick and uncle Warrick failing miserably at crib construction."

"And mommy swooping in to save the day." Grissom laughed.

"Oh yes, I wont forget that part." Sara's grin grew wider. "The baby shower, where Grandpa Jim's present made mommy cry."

"How excited you were when she started crawling." Grissom smiled.

"How excited _you_ were when she started walking!" Sara laughed. "You screamed so loud for me to get the video camera Bruno hid under the bed for two hours!"

Grissom's eyes softened as he traced the top of his wine glass with the tip of his index finger. "How proud we were when she stood at the side of her crib and reached out her little hand and called for _mama_."

Sara bit her bottom lip as she reached out for his hand. "And we still have a lifetime of memories waiting to be made."

"Do you think we should call?" Grissom asked reaching for the phone is his pocket.

"Nah, I think they'll be ok." Sara smiled as the waitress set their plates in front of them.

* * *

"Violet...my sweet little Violet..." Nick cooed as he changed a diaper, Catherine watching like a hawk over his shoulder. "You know, I do have like, a million nieces and nephews, I know what I'm doing here." Nick looked over his shoulder. 

"Oh yeah, I know. I wasn't watching you, I was watching her." Catherine smiled.

"Nice attempt at a cover up there Cath." Nick laughed as he hurriedly snapped the buttons on Violet's onesie, Violet starting to make her move to get away.

Violet pulled herself up on the couch and scurried over to the chair to see what Jim was eating.

"Can she have a little piece of potato chip?" He questioned Nick, who promptly headed in the kitchen.

"Doesn't say she can't!" He called out.

"Sara gives her little pieces all the time." Warrick chimed in.

Jim pinched of a little piece of a potato chip and handed it to Violet. Violet took the chip, and toddled off to Greg who was sitting on the floor nearby, playing with a plastic xylophone.

"Huh oooh go." She held out the tiny, and now soggy, piece of chip to Greg.

"Thank you Violet." Greg smiled and pretended to eat the soggy offering.

Warrick put down the paper he was reading and sat on the floor. "Violet, that is Greg." He smiled. Violet pointed at Greg.

"Yes, GRRRRR-EGGGG" Warrick sounded the name out for her.

"Geg?" Violet pointed again.

"Yes, Greg." Warrick smiled.

"She's quick." Greg smiled.

"Yeah well, Sara and Grissom have been trying to label everything, add to her vocabulary and encourage her to talk."

"She already talks a lot I think." Lindsay smiled.

"Some babies do get more verbal earlier than others, but she is doing well for her age." Catherine nodded.

"Who's that?" Catherine pointed at Brass.

"Umpa him."

"Yes, Grandpa Jim." Catherine smiled.

"Wick!" Violet squealed, pointing at Warrick.

"Warrick! Yes! Very good!!" Catherine reached out and pulled Violet in for a hug.

"Who is that over there?"

"Nick!" Violet hopped out of Catherine's lap and headed across the room for Nick.

"And who is that weird guy?" Nick pointed across the room.

"GEG!!!!" Violet clapped and jumped up and down.

"That's right!! Greg!" Nick smiled.

"I am not weird." Greg raised an eyebrow at Nick.

"And who is that over there?"

"Winsay!"

"Yes! Lindsay!!"

"Boono!!" Violet toddled over to the dog, who lifted his head when he heard his name. Violet sat in front of the dog and leaned back against him, Bruno simply put his head back down.

"Where's my camera?" Catherin got up and started rifling through her purse feverishly. "That is too damn cute."

"Mom!" Lindsay glared at her.

"Darn, I said darn." Catherine said as she fished her camera out and snapped a picture of the dog and Violet.

"Who are you?" Warrick asked.

"Bi-let!" She laughed and reached back to play with Bruno's ear.

"Bi-let what?" Warrick smiled.

"Bi-let nubayah."

"Whoa...now that is impressive." Catherine nodded.

"Taught her that last week." Warrick grinned proudly; he crawled across the floor and brought Violet in his lap. "She is very smart." He said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "Aren't you? You are soooo smart!!" He kissed her cheek again and again, sending her into a giggle fit.

"Crap, it's almost nine o'clock!" Catherine glanced at her watch.

"We better start thinking about heading to work soon Greg-o." Nick sighed.

"And someone needs to get to sleep before her parents come home and kill us." Warrick kissed Violet's cheek again.

"I'll get her bottle ready!" Lindsay shot up from the couch and headed into the kitchen, Catherine right behind her.

* * *

Grissom put the car in park and hit the button to close the garage door. 

"Do you think they'll be mad that we stayed out until... Oh my god it's eleven!" Sara looked at the clock.

"They all work grave, I think they'll be ok with it." Grissom smiled and leaned over for a kiss. Sara reached up and cusped his face in her hand as their lips met.

"We need to do this again." Grissom smiled.

"Definitely." Sara grinned back before kissing him again.

They quietly walked into the kitchen and set their doggie bags on the counter. Sara peeked into the living room.

"Oh my god, Gil, get the camera...quietly!" Sara whispered.

Grissom retrieved the camera from the top of the fridge and handed it to Sara. Sara snuck into the living room and snapped a picture. Catherine lay on the couch, her face buried in a pillow. Jim was slumped in the chair, potato chips in his lap. Warrick was on the floor, Violet sleeping innocently between him and Lindsay, Bruno at their feet. Grissom tip-toed in and stood behind Sara.

"They must have had quite the party." He whispered to Sara.

Sara covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Ahem" Grissom cleared his throat. No one so much as stirred.

"Okay..." He laughed as he headed for the couch and gave Catherine's shoulder a light shake as Sara picked Violet up and headed upstairs to put her in her crib.

"Hmmmm? Oh! Gil." Catherine sat up quickly, a red line down her face from the crease of the pillow. "We had a good time." She smiled.

"I gathered." Grissom pointed to the others dead asleep around her.

"I'll clean it up." Catherine got up and kicked at Warrick and Lindsay. "They're home."

"Hey Gris." Warrick sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Your kid wore us out."

"Yeah, she'll do that." Grissom smiled and took a seat on the couch. Sara came down the stairs and sat next to him on the couch. "How did it go?" She asked quietly.

"Great!" Jim stirred from his chair, rolling his neck as he sat forward. "We had a lot of fun."

"We really did." Lindsay nodded.

"Well, you guys are more than welcome to do this again." Sara laughed.

"We'd love to." Catherine smiled. "We really did have a lot of fun. Anytime you guys want to have a night out, we'd be more than happy to come spend time with her."

"You're welcome to come spend time with her anytime." Grissom said. "In fact we were thinking about maybe having a barbeque soon, and make it a regular thing."

"Yeah, so Violet gets plenty of time with her family." Sara smiled.

"We'd love that." Jim nodded, his eyes glistening a little.

"Ok, well, we should get out of your hair." Catherine motioned and everyone gathered at the door. "So you can, uh, finish your evening." She winked at Sara and grabbed her purse.

"Bye!" Sara laughed as she waved and shut the door and turned the lock.

"Yeah, so we can finish our _evening_." Grissom mocked as she walked up and put his arms around Sara.

"Keep it up and you're not getting any." Sara crossed her arms jokingly.

"I wasn't aware I was getting _any_..." Grissom wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ok so when did you turn into a teenage perv?" Sara laughed.

Grissom leaned in and kissed her lips softly and moved his fingertips along her collar bone.

"Better?" He asked.

"Much." Sara smiled and clicked off the lamp.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18 Two Years Old

A/N - Ok got a decent chapter up! I pulled some of this from a real life situation with my daughter a few months ago. Hope you like! As always reviews are awesome!

* * *

"Mama, I need cereal." 

Sara opened one eye to see her pajama clad daughter standing at her bedside.

"Mama needs sleep." Sara grumbled, her head starting to pound. She started regretting her girls night out.

"Mama. I am verrrrrrry hungry." Violet carelessly climbed into the bed next to Sara.

"Tell daddy." Sara mumbled, pulling the covers over her eyes.

"Your breath stinks mama." Violet informed her as she climbed over and made her way to Grissom's side of the bed.

"Daddy!" Violet tapped Grissom's shoulder, not getting much of a response.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy!!!!!" Violet shouted.

"Violet, indoor voice!" Sara scolded from her cocoon.

"Violet sweetheart, there is no need to shout." Grissom said as he snatched up his daughter and snuggled her in next to him under the covers.

"But daddy, me and Bruno need cereal."

"I understand and appreciate that fact sweetie; but I don't think that calls for shouting do you?" Grissom asked.

"Well, we're verrrrry hungry." Violet told him, trying to smooth some of his tousled curls with her little fingers. "Your hair is a mess." She noted.

"I was sleeping." Grissom kissed her nose. "You don't exactly look like your best either." Grissom said trying to smooth out some of Violet's dark hair.

"Gil, she's two, don't say that or you'll give her a complex." Sara mumbled form under the covers.

"Dad, we really need some cereal." Violet sat up. "We need it nowwwww daddy, or you'll give me a tampax."

Sara flipped the covers off her head to see a very serious Violet pouting at a laughing Grissom. "Did she say what I think she said?"

"Yeah..." Grissom laughed, he saw his daughter pouting and pulled her into a hug. "I'm laughing because you're cute." He kissed her cheek.

"Well, I don't think I'm going to get back to sleep..." Sara smiled. "Violet, why don't you go pick out something to wear and bring me your brush, we'll go to Denny's for breakfast."

"YAY!!!!!!!!!" Violet squealed and jumped off the bed.

Twenty minutes later Sara was pulling Violet's hair into a ponytail and helping her get her shoes tied. "Let's scoot." Sara kissed her daughters cheek and headed down the stairs.

"Gil did you feed the dog?" Sara asked as she grabbed her purse and he picked up his keys.

"Yes, and he's been outside, we are good to go."

Sara strapped Violet into her car seat and sighed. "Remember when it didn't take us a half an hour to get out the door?"

"Vaguely." Grissom smiled as Sara got in the car and he backed out of the garage.

* * *

"So how was your night out?" Grissom smiled at Sara after the waitress had taken their orders. 

"It was fun, but I am paying for it this morning." Sara smiled as she stirred her tea.

Grissom laughed and picked up a crayon Violet had dropped, he handed it back to her so she could continue coloring one her placemat. "I still don't understand the need to have a big night out before getting married."

"Well, I think it's more of an excuse to party and act stupid rather than a _last_ hurrah." Sara smiled. "Besides I think Cath had more fun than Mandy did anyway."

"I am going to throw flowers at Mandy!" Violet smiled.

"Honey, you throw the petals on the floor, not _at_ Mandy." Grissom informed her.

"Oh." Violet pondered the thought for a moment and went back to coloring.

"We may have to practice at home I think." Sara looked back at Grissom. "Maybe we should pick up some silk petals on the way home and let her practice in the bedroom hallway. I really don't want her to throw them at Mandy at the wedding."

"That's one of the bad things about Vegas wedding, no rehearsals." Grissom smiled.

* * *

"Hold still or you will get burned." Sara knelt down in front of Violet. "This curling iron is very hot. Can you hold still for mommy?" 

Violet nodded and Sara went back to making curls in the ponytail on top of Violet's head.

"Can you hand me her headpiece?" Sara smiled at Lindsay.

"Sure." Lindsay smiled and passed the ring of white flowers to Sara. "Need help?" She asked as Sara struggled with a bobby pin.

"Yes!" Sara laughed and Lindsay went to work pinning the wreath of flowers into Violet's hair. After she was done, Sara curled a few last strands and stood back to admire her work.

"Well, you certainly look the part of the flower girl!" Sara kissed her daughters cheek and led her to the bathroom mirror. Violet smiled as she examined her hair.

"Oh my god!" Catherine squealed as she came into the bathroom. She fished into her purse and pulled out a camera. Violet immediately struck a pose and Catherine snapped her picture.

"What a ham." Sara laughed.

"Mom is always pointing that camera at her, its no wonder she's become a pro at striking a pose!" Lindsay laughed. "I swear, you have more picture of her than you do me."

"Not true." Catherine glanced at her daughter, Lindsay simply rolled her eyes.

"Are we ready ladies?" Grissom peeked his head into the bathroom. "Oh my goodness! Why didn't you guys tell me a princess had come to visit?"

"Daddy, it's me!!!"

"Oh my goodness it's Violet!" Grissom held open his arms as the little girl rushed towards him. "You look like a princess! I didn't even recognize you!" He smiled as he picked her up.

"We better hit the road" Sara looked at her watch. "We can't be late."

They shuffled out of the bathroom and downstairs to the car. Sara snapped violet into her seat as Lindsay and Catherine climbed in next to her.

"You ready?" Sara asked the tot as he fumbled with the lace gloves on her hands. Violet simply nodded, and Sara shut the door and got in the car.

"Let's get this show on the road." She smiled as she buckled her seatbelt and they backed out of the driveway.

* * *

The group milled around the lobby of the wedding chapel, occasionally glancing at their watches or stopping to look out the front door. 

"Do you think one of them chickened out?" Warrick asked.

"Maybe they just decided to stop at another chapel and let Elvis do the honors." Brass shrugged.

"They're here." Catherine sighed in relief as Nick and Mandy headed into the chapel.

"I need to get dressed!" Mandy huffed as she came in, hauling a garment bag.

"C'mon the dressing room is this way." Catherine quickly led her down the hall.

"What took you guys so long?" Warrick questioned, looking at his watch. "You have less than ten minutes to spare man."

"We uhhhh..." Nick struggled to find an excuse. "We got caught up at home."

"Sure ya did." Greg wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ok, there are children present." Sara reminded them as she strapped Violet's white shoes on.

"Yeah, don't give me a tampax." Violet said flatly as she watched her mother struggled with the clasps on her little shoes.

"COMPLEX, honey, COMPLEX." Grissom quickly corrected her; the guys covered their mouths to hide their smiles.

"Ok, we're ready." Catherine sighed as she walked into the lobby. Everyone filed into the chapel, as Sara finally clasped Violets strap.

"Ok honey, you are going to stay here with Auntie Catherine, she will tell you when to walk down the aisle ok?" Violet simply nodded. "You throw the petals just like we practiced at home ok baby?" Violet nodded again and Sara kissed her cheek and scurried to take her seat.

The music started and the pastor and Nick walked down the aisle.

"Ok honey, now _you_ go!" Catherine smiled and Violet starting walking down the aisle, tossing petals as she went. She got to the end and stopped. Realizing they had forgotten to tell her what to do once the petals were gone, Grissom scooted down in the pew and pointed to Nick. Nicked waved her over and she stood next to him and watched as Catherine made her way down. Catherine waved her over to her and picked her up to watch Mandy walk down next.

Sara was impressed that Violet was quiet the whole duration of the ceremony, content to be in Catherine's arms and watch Nick and Mandy.

"You may now kiss your bride." The pastor smiled.

"Oooooooooh!!!!" Violet let out a little squeal as Nick and Mandy shared a kiss and everyone started giggling, she hid her face in Catherine's neck until the time came to go back down the aisle, when she carefully picked up every petal as she went and stuck it back into her basket.

* * *

"That really was a beautiful ceremony." Sara smiled at Mandy as they ate hordevours in Catherine's backyard. 

"It was,I was even surprised." Mandy smiled. "I mean for a place on the strip, it was really nice."

"Yeah, that's why Gil and I chose that place too." Sara smiled.

"That's where you got married? I'd always wondered."

"Yeah, of course we got married in jeans, but it was still nice." Sara smiled.

"Where's my little flower girl?" Nick asked as he stood next to Mandy.

Sara scanned the yard. "I don't know." Her smile quickly faded, and she called out to Grissom. "Where is Violet?"

Grissom scanned the yard as well and his face became a little panicked.

"Maybe she's in the house with Linds." Catherine rushed to the door as Lindsay was coming out. "Where's Violet?"

"She was still out here when I went in; I just went to the bathroom." Lindsay shrugged.

Suddenly everyone in the yard began searching and calling out for Violet.

"My fish!" Lindsay stopped suddenly and rushed into the house, remembering how fascinated Violet had always been with her fish tank.

Lindsay ran down the hall and saw her door opened a little bit, she pushed open the door just in time to see Violet fall of the bookcase she'd been climbing and smack her head on Lindsay's bed frame. Lindsay rushed to her as she let out a scream. Outside, the sound of a piercing scream sent everyone running into the house.

Lindsay knelt next to Violet and grabbed the towel that had been hanging on her bedpost; she put it to the gash in Violet's head as she lifted her off the floor. The door opened and Sara and Grissom rushed in, everyone else on their heels. Lindsay rocked Violet as she sobbed into her chest; she pulled back the towel to show Sara all the blood.

"I remembered how much she loves my fish." Lindsay started cry. "I came in just as she fell off my bookcase."

"Ohmygod,ohmygod." Sara started bawling the moment she was the bloody towel.

"Let's try and stay calm." Grissom told her as he knelt next to Lindsay and took Violet.

"Dispatch, this is Brass we need an ambulance at..."

"Oh my god." Sara cried as Grissom stood to bring her to the front of the house, he motioned for Warrick go to Sara.

"Sara you need to calm down." Warrick pulled Sara into his chest.

"My baby..." Sara sobbed.

"Your baby needs you to be calm Sara, if she sees that you're upset she'll be upset." Warrick smoothed her hair and started walking her to the front of the house.

"Let's let Gris go with her, I'll take you to the hospital." Warrick whispered.

"We can go in my car; at least we'll have the cherries and be able to keep up with the bus." Brass reached over and kissed Sara's forehead. Sara nodded and wiped her tears from her face.

"Violet honey, daddy is going to go with you, mama and grandpa Jim will be right behind you in Grandpa's car ok?" Warrick told Violet, who simply nodded through her sobs.

Sara turned to see Mandy and Nick crying as they watched Grissom try and soothe his hurt child.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Lindsay cried as Catherine put her arm around her.

"Linds, this isn't you fault." Sara told her. "We just let her get out of our sight, this isn't your fault."

The sounds of sirens blared as the ambulance pulled into the driveway, and Sara broke down again as Brass quickly called out to the EMT's to fill them in on the situation. "Two year old female, fell of a bookcase, has a laceration to the back of her scalp." Sara watched as Grissom carried her to the ambulance and they loaded Violet onto a stretcher.

"C'mon Sara." Warrick pulled her towards Brass' waiting car. Sara felt like she was in a bad dream, she was moving but she didn't remember willing her legs to move. Warrick helped her into the car and they followed the ambulance down the street, sirens blaring.

* * *

Warrick and Sara rushed into the emergency room while Jim parked the car. 

"Excuse me ma'am." Warrick stopped a nurse who was going by. "We're looking for Violet Grissom, little girl who came in a few moments ago, has a gash on her head."

"Curtain three." The nurse smiled and went on her way.

"Mama..." Violet whimpered as they pulled the curtain to the side, a doctor was flashing a flashlight in her eyes.

"I will want to get a CT scan, but her pupils are reactive, and she is alert. I think after a few stitches she'll be almost good as new." The doctor smiled.

"Are you ok baby?" Sara leaned down and kissed her daughter's head.

"My head hurts." Violet pouted, fresh tears spilling onto her red cheeks.

"I know baby, but the doctor's are going to fix you up." Sara mustered up a smile.

"I wanted to see the fish."

"Sweetheart, from now on, you need to tell a grown up if you want to see the fish." Grissom leaned over and told her. "You should really ask Lindsay first, it's her room."

"I hardly think now is the time for that." Sara turned around and whispered. "When we get home we'll have the _full-house-lesson-learned_ moment."

"Uncle Rick, I gots an owie." Violet pouted.

"I know, but we'll get you all better." Warrick smiled.

"Grandpa!" Violet perked up when Brass came in.

"How's my little pumpkin?" Brass smiled.

"I have an owie, I had bleed all over me!"

"I know! You scared us!" Brass told her.

"I'm sorry." Violet said softly.

"Its ok sweetie, we just had to make sure you're ok."

"I'm going to take her down to radiology to get a CT scan, one adult can accompany her." The nurse came in and started pushing the bed out.

"Daddy are you coming?" Violet called out.

Grissom looked at Sara and she motioned for him to go. "I'll call Cath, update everyone." She smiled. Grissom followed Violet's bed down the hallway.

"Why don't I call Cath, you sit down and take this all in." Jim smiled at her.

"Thanks Jim..." Sara sat down and put her head in her hands.

"Sara... this happens, kids are quick. When I was six I broke my wrist when I took off on my bike when my grandma wasn't looking." Warrick sat down next to her.

"I feel like I failed her. I'm supposed to keep her safe." Sara sighed.

"You didn't fail her." Warrick put his finger under Sara's chin and lifted her face up. "You didn't fail her."

"Cath says Mandy and Nick headed home, she and Linds wanted to know if they could stop by tomorrow to visit Violet, I told her you'd give her a call in the morning." Brass smiled as he came in from the hall.

"Thanks Jim." Sara mumbled. "God, poor Nick and Mandy, what a way to end your wedding day." She shook her head.

"Hey, why don't we just re-do this whole reception thing next weekend?" Warrick smiled.

"Oh, I'd love that! I feel like they got cheated." Sara smiled. "I'll do it at my house."

"It may be safer that way." Brass smiled.

* * *

Sara kissed Violet's cheek as she covered her up in her bed. She stayed for a moment, watching her sleep before heading downstairs to the kitchen. 

"Oh Gil..." Sara sighed as she sat next to him on the couch and laid her head in his lap.

"Well, we made it through her first hospital visit." Grissom tried to joke as he shut his book.

"It had better be the last hospital visit." Sara groaned.

"You know that little scar on my leg?"

"Yeah."

"When I was eight, I wanted to dissect a dead frog I found in our driveway. So I took one of my mom's knives when she wasn't looking."

"Wait, at eight years old you were dissecting things?" Sara sat up.

Grissom shrugged. "Are you surprised?"

"I guess I shouldn't be." Sara smiled.

"Well, I laid the frog on my leg, ready to cut open, but his body slid off my leg just as I was about to make the cut... and I got my leg with the knife."

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" Sara wondered out loud.

"The point is, kids will always sneak and do things and sometimes they get hurt. This sort of thing happens to even the best of parents."

"That doesn't make me feel any better about our poor daughter upstairs with twenty-two stitched in her head."

"Dollars to donuts she wont climb any bookcases in the near future."

"Ok, that really doesn't help." Sara shook her head.

"We all learn through trial and error Sara..."

"So you're saying its ok that she busted her head open?!"

"No, I'm not. When I saw her in Lindsay's arms screaming like that, my heart positively broke. I'm just trying to make _you_ feel better."

Sara shook her head. "I don't think you can make me feel better Gil."

"I'm sorry, I tried." Grissom leaned over and kissed Sara's nose.

"I'm going to go call Catherine and Lindsay." Sara sighed and got up.

"Oh." She turned to face Grissom. "By the way, we're having a re-do wedding reception here next Saturday."

"Good to know." Grissom smiled as he picked up his book.

* * *


	19. Chapter 19 Three Years Old

**A/N** - Ok, sue me for being a bit fluffy in this one... wait, dont sue me... I still have to buy Christmas presents once I get Hanukkah over with! Read, enjoy, review!

* * *

"Mom?" 

"Yes Violet?" Sara stopped chopping her vegetables.

"When is the baby in your belly coming out?"

Grissom dropped the spoon he'd been holding and stared his wife, his jaw dropped.

"Sweetheart there is no baby in my belly." Sara said softly before shaking her head at a shocked Grissom.

"When will a baby be in your belly?"

"Honey, mommy isn't planning on having another baby." Sara smiled and dropped the vegetables into the salad bowl.

"But all the other mommy's at the playground have a baby in their belly."

"I know sweetheart, but mommy and daddy have decided not to have another baby."

"Why?"

Sara sighed, she knew she was about to get caught into another _why_ conversation with her daughter. "Honey, remember we talked about this? We were blessed with you, and you're all the blessing we can handle."

"Why?"

"Sweetheart, this is a mommy and daddy decision, we are not having another baby."

"But I need a brother or a sister."

"Why?" Sara sighed.

"Everyone else will have one and I won't."

"Sweetie, not everyone has siblings, Aunt Catherine only has Lindsay, and Lindsay has no brothers or sisters." Grissom told her.

"So I won't be different, I'll be the same as Lindsay?"

"Yes, you'll be the same as Lindsay." Grissom smiled.

"Ok. I'm gonna go find Bruno so I can give him his dinner." Violet Smiled as she slid off her chair and went to find the dog.

"Nothing like casual conversation with your three year old about babies." Sara sighed as she set the salad on the table.

"You know, we never out and out made a decision _not_ to have another child." Grissom said softly as he tended to the frying pan.

"Seriously Gil, I'm not in a joking mood today."

"I'm being serious, are we _officially _not having another child?"

Sara stopped and put her hands on her hips. "You want another baby?"

"No... Well, I never officially ruled it out after we had Violet. Like she says, it's more common to have more than one child."

"Ok, I can see this is going to be an involved conversation, why don't we finish later? Your chicken is smoking."

Grissom turned back to his pan and quickly flipped the meat.

"Violet? C'mon, bring Bruno!" Sara called up the stairs.

Sara pulled out the container of dog food and opened it for Violet.

"Violet Neveah!" Sara called out again.

"We're coming!!!!" A little voice shouted from upstairs.

Sara washed her hands and pulled out another pan. "Here can you throw my tofu on?" She handed Grissom the skillet.

Violet thundered down the stairs, Bruno on her heels. She stopped at the container and scooped up the dog food and carefully dispensed it in the dog's bowl. She put the lid on the container and went to sit at the table.

"You know better, wash your hands." Sara smiled at her. "I think the time has come to enroll her in pre-school." Sara stopped and looked at Grissom.

"We talked about this; we need to do some more research into the local Montessori schools before we decide what to do."

"Gil, we treat her like a tiny adult. The other day she was explaining her roach's eating habits to Jim."

"Really?" Grissom's eyes lit up.

"Gil, she is a little girl, she needs to be watching cartoons and interacting with children her own age, playing with dolls instead of just insect and lizards. What other three year old has her own bee suit?"

"She wanted one! She saw me tending to the bees and wanted to help me, she learns a lot when she can be hands on."

"I know you want her to learn, and I'm glad you take the time to teach her, don't get me wrong." Sara sighed. "But she needs to be with kids her own age; I don't want her to be an outcast."

"Why will she be an outcast?"

"Grissom, I was the smart kid. I was so busy learning, I became socially inept. It was hard during my adolescence, and growing up, I don't want that for her."

"You don't want her to be _me_."

"Who's not going to be you?" Violet came in and sat at the table.

"No one sweetheart, let's start you off with some salad." Sara scooped salad onto her plate.

"I wasn't taking a shot at you." Sara whispered as she stood at the stove checking on her tofu.

"It felt like it."

"This weekend we'll go over the brochures and pick a school, she needs to interact with kids her own age."

"School????" Violet perked up.

"Yes honey, daddy and I have to pick a school for you, you'll go soon."

"Can I have an iguana backpack?"

"If mommy can find one, yes."

"Yay!!"

"Later?" Grissom stopped and raised his eyebrow.

"Later." Sara nodded.

* * *

"So should we start with our child or our prospective child?" Grissom closed his book as Sara crawled into bed. 

"So it's a prospective child now?"

"We'll start there." Grissom sighed.

"Gil, I don't think I can do this all again. Imagine having a baby with a three year old... I had a hard time just having Violet as an infant."

"But you've got the experience now."

"Do you really want to have another child, or are you doing that devil's advocate thing even when you have the same opinion as I do?"

"I don't know."

"You just don't like having the baby door closed?"

"I think you're getting warmer." Grissom sighed.

"Who are you? I demand to know what you've done with my husband."

Grissom chuckled a little bit. "I don't know, I guess having another child at my age would be a bit ludicrous. I just get so much joy from her; I thought having another one would bring us more joy."

"Oh Gil." Sara smiled softly.

"But I guess if we want to close that door, I am happy just having her."

"Let's not decide anything right now ok? This is one of those things we should both think over a little bit more."

"Ok." Grissom nodded. "Now onto this school business."

"Why are you so against this?"

"I am not against it. She loves to learn, and I definitely want to nurture that; however, choosing a school is very important, I want to make sure we make a good decision, and that she ends up in a good learning environment."

"It's _preschool_ Gilbert."

"That doesn't make it any less important."

"We need to pick a school, enrollment starts soon and some of the nicer schools fill up quickly."

"Ok. We'll pick one this weekend."

"Great, I'll call Cath and Lindsay, they've wanted to take Violet to the zoo for a while now, maybe they can take her Saturday."

"Well that went well." Grissom smiled.

"What? Did you expect me to throw a fit about the idea of another baby?"

"I expected... Ya know, I don't know what I expected." Grissom laughed.

* * *

"He wants another _what_?" Catherine almost dropped the phone into the full sink she was washing dishes in. "Gil Grissom wants another child?" 

"He isn't completely sure. He just doesn't want to close the door on the idea just yet." Sara sighed.

"No offense Sara, but he isn't getting any younger."

"I know, I mean, we weren't going to have a child period. Now he wants two. I don't know what to make of it."

"Do you want another kid?"

"I don't know Cath, Violet is on this whole little brother/sister kick right now, I hadn't even given any thought to it before she brought it up."

"Lindsay did that to me and Eddie once."

"What did you do?"

"Honestly, at that point I think I knew our marriage was going down hill, so I never stopped taking the pill."

"Are you glad you didn't have another child?"

"Some days, yes. Lindsay has never been an easy child, I don't know if I could have handled two. Other times I wished she had a sibling, besides my mother and me, she doesn't have anyone."

"I don't know what to do, it's so much easier now that Violet's older and potty trained, and she can communicate. I don't know how much I want to start over with a new baby."

"Well, you're going to have to do some soul searching Sara, no one can decide this but you."

"Ugh, this was never supposed to be an issue, but now that the seed has been planted in my head, I'm just conflicted."

"Well the guys wanted in on the zoo trip, so I'm sure we'll have a long lunch too, we'll probably be gone a good portion of the day; so just sit down and sort this out with Gris Saturday."

"I think I'll have to, I have to decide one way or another, I can't stand this indecision."

"Well, feel free to call anytime."

"Thanks Cath, I'll see you guys Saturday."

"See ya Saturday."

* * *

"Violet!!!" Get your shoes on! Uncle Warrick is here to bring you to Catherine's!!" 

"I'm coming mom! I have to feed the roaches first!"

"I still can't believe your three year old little _girl _has bugs as pets." Warrick laughed.

"Have you met her father?" Sara laughed.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at anything that little girl likes, she is definitely..."

"Weird?" Sara smiled.

"A Grissom." Warrick laughed.

"Uncle Rick!!!"

"There's my little angel!" Warrick scooped Violet up and kissed her cheek. "You ready for a day at the zoo?"

Violet shook her head and pointed to her tiger shirt.

"Yup you're ready! Let's get over to Cath's and get going then!"

"Violet? Did you put the books on top of the roach's lid? I don't want to be chasing down escapees again." Sara asked.

"Yes I did." Violet smiled.

"Ok, you have fun today, I love you." Sara kissed her cheek and Warrick said his goodbyes and carried Violet to the car.

"Gil, c'mon, I have the brochures in the living room!" Sara called into the den.

"Be there in a sec, I'm feeding my roaches."

"Oy." Sara shook her head and headed into the kitchen to grab some tea.

* * *

"So we agree then?" Grissom smiled. 

"Yep!" Sara leaned over and kissed him. "It only took two hours but we picked a school."

"I think this place will be great, they teach small groups of kids at their own learning level."

"I think it'll work out well for her, she can be challenged and be able to play with kids her own age." Sara nodded.

"Do you want to go out for lunch?" Grissom smiled.

"I'd love that." Sara got up and picked up her purse. Grissom grabbed his car keys and they headed into the garage.

"So what have you been thinking all week?" Grissom asked as they pulled out of the driveway.

"Lots of things." Sara sighed.

"I thought about going through another pregnancy, my body changing yet again, having to _give birth_ again. I thought about being the mother of two children, something I had never thought about in all my years on this planet." Sara grinned

"You never even thought you'd have _a child_."

"I know, the thought of having _children_ not just a child, is much scarier a thought though. Wait, did you ever think you'd have children?"

"When I was younger." Grissom smiled. "I mean, that's the usual path for most people don't you think? College, career, marriage, children, grandchildren... but after a certain amount of time I figured kids just wouldn't be in the cards for me."

"And yet here we both sit, contemplating having _another _child."

"If you don't want any more Sara, I will respect that decision one hundred percent."

Sara reached over and grabbed his hand. "I think it may be too late for it to be my decision."

"How do you mean?" Grissom asked, confused, as they pulled into the restaurant.

"I'm not completely sure, but I woke up yesterday feeling pregnant again."

Grissom peeled out of the parking lot and back onto the street.

"Gil!! What are you doing?"

"We're going to the drug store."

* * *


	20. Chapter 20 Peeing on a stick Redoux

**A/N** - Ok, I have meetings up the kazoo tomorrow and have a busy weekend planned, and I couldn't leave you guys hanging like that...so, here is a short chapter on the pee stick results. And on a personal note - My husband and I are expecting baby number two! I blame for Chelles for bringing it up!!! Way to go Chelles, way to go.

* * *

"I understand about your being confused the first time you had to do this." Grissom stood in front of the pregnancy tests. 

Sara snatched up the three different kinds of tests she had taken the first time and led Grissom out of the aisle. "If it's negative, it just may be too early; there may not be enough HCG to register a positive result."

"It's worth a shot." Grissom smiled.

"Look at you, you're almost giddy!" Sara laughed as they paid for their purchases.

"I don't like uncertainty." Grissom smiled back as they headed out of the store.

* * *

Sara spilled the contents of her bag on the bathroom vanity and looked over at a pacing Grissom. "Can I pee in peace?" She giggled. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry..." Grissom hurried out of the bathroom. When he heard the flush he marched right back into the room. "Which one did you take?"

"This one." Sara flashed him the box. "It reads the lowest amount of HCG in urine."

"How long does this take?"

"They say three minutes, but last time the results popped up much quicker."

Grissom fixed his eyes to his watch.

"Look at you!" Sara teased as she put her arms around his waist. "_You're_ excited!"

"I'm anxious. Anxious and excited are two different emotions." Grissom stated, never taking his eyes of his watch.

"Liar." Sara smiled.

"You don't exactly look disappointed that the results might be positive."

"At least this time around I'd know what I was doing." Sara sighed.

"Minute and a half to go."

Sara walked over to the vanity and sighed as she picked up the stick. "I don't think we need another ninety seconds."

* * *

Grissom sat Sara's tea on the coffee table and sat next to her on the couch, peeking at the photo album in her hand. He wiped a stray tear that had fallen on her cheek. 

"This was her first bath." Sara sighed. "Remember how mad she was? She wouldn't stop screaming."

"Yeah, you were really upset."

"Well, this time we'll know what to expect." Sara smiled.

"Should we wait to tell the others? I seem to recall reading it was a good idea to wait until after the first trimester to make announcements."

"Yeah, that was in my baby book too, I think we'll wait. We'll tell Violet in a few months, maybe she can announce it to the others."

"Her first big act as a big sister?" Grissom smiled.

"Her first big act was knowing she was going to be a big sister before her parents did!" Sara laughed.

"We're going to have _children_. Plural." Grissom laughed.

"I know." Sara sighed.

"Are you upset?"

"No. Which is what is bothering me." Sara giggled. "I mean, after my allergic reaction to the pill I was on, I knew what a chance I was taking by not finding another one that would work. I knew we weren't on anything. I don't feel like this so much of an 'oops' as it was with Violet. Maybe this was just how it was meant to be, and I'm ok with that."

"I'm ok with it too, and this time I know to stock up on the cheesecake ahead of time." Grissom laughed.

"Oh! They're home!" Sara quickly stuck the photo album back on the shelf and went to greet the group at the door.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21 Announcement

A/N - Thanks to everyone to takes the time to read and review! I have been swamped lately, but Im trying to get the next chapter finished for ya... We told our daughter there is a baby on the way and she is convinced its a sister and that we should name her Cupcake.

* * *

Grissom stared out onto the Las Vegas strip. He'd always loved standing on top of the Stratosphere. Vegas changed so quickly, buildings come down, and new buildings go up nearly as fast as the old ones were imploded, the view from the top was constantly changing. 

"Daddy look at the sun!"

Grissom turned to see a red ball on the horizon, it was indeed beautiful. He picked up Violet and kissed her cheek, he was touched that even at three years old, his daughter appreciated the beauty nature provided.

"Violet, mommy and daddy have to tell you something." Sara smiled after snapping a quick photo of Violet and Grissom staring into the sunset.

"Ok." Violet smiled.

"Mommy has a baby in her belly." Grissom smiled.

"Really??" Violet squealed.

"Yes honey, the baby will come out of my tummy in the summer time." Sara smiled

"Is it a brother or a sister?" Violet asked.

"We don't know yet. The baby in mommy's tummy is still very small, when it gets bigger we'll find out." Grissom hugged his daughter to his side.

"I think I'll name the baby Iguana!" Violet declared.

"Iguana?" Sara laughed.

"Yes, or maybe honey bee!"

"Well, how about we talk about names once we know if it's a boy or a girl baby?" Grissom laughed.

"Can the baby sleep in my room?"

"The baby will have its own room sweetheart." Sara smoothed her hair as it waved in the breeze.

"Oh..." Violet looked disappointed.

"But, you can help mommy in the baby's room." Grissom smiled. "You're going to be the big sister and mommy is going to need you to be her helper!"

"Mommy's helper?"

"Yep. You can help mommy with the baby." Sara smiled.

"I'll be a good helper!"

"You'll be the best helper!" Grissom smiled.

"Are you happy that mommy has a baby in her belly?" Sara asked.

"Yes!"

"How about we go get some ice cream on the way home to celebrate?" Grissom smiled

"Can we ride in the fast evalator again?" Violet was already headed back inside.

"Good to know she's ok with this!" Sara laughed.

Grissom kissed Sara's cheek. "Ok, girls, lets go get in that fast elevator and find us some ice cream." He smiled as they went inside.

* * *

"Ok Violet... remember how we practiced?" Grissom peered into the rearview mirror as he parked the car. 

"Yes! Everyone is in auntie's backyard. When I get outside we show everyone my shirt!" Violet nodded.

"Ok, let's go show everyone your shirt and surprise them!" Sara smiled as she unfastened Violet's seat.

They walked through Catherine's front door and made their way into the yard.

"Hey!" Catherine waved as they came onto the patio.

"Everyone! Violet made a shirt today and she wanted to show everyone her artwork!" Grissom smiled as he set Violet down.

Violet proudly marched to the end of the patio and pulled her shirt so everyone could read the writing.

"Big Sister." Jim read out loud. Nick and Warrick shot surprised glances at Sara.

"Tell them why you and mommy made that shirt!" Grissom smiled.

"Mommy has a baby in her belly; I'm going to name the baby Iguana!" Violet announced.

"Oh my god, I knew something was up!" Catherine ran up and hugged Sara, Mandy on her heels. Warrick and Nick shook Grissom's hand and gave their congratulations.

Jim picked up Violet and kissed her cheek. "You made a beautiful shirt! You're going to be the best big sister ever sweetheart."

"I'm going to be mommy's helper!" Violet beamed.

"Yes you will!" Lindsay came up and took Violet from Brass.

"Can we go see your fish Lindsay?" Violet asked.

"Of course." Lindsay smiled and brought her into the house.

"Ok. DETAILS!" Catherine gushed as they all sat around the patio table.

"Well, you know that week that Violet brought up the whole baby in my belly issue?"

"You decided to go for it?" Catherine asked.

"No, we were already pregnant." Sara laughed.

"Oh, that's hilarious." Catherine giggled.

"When are you due?" Mandy chimed in.

"July 10th."

"Ewww." Mandy laughed.

"I know!" Sara nodded.

"What's eww?" Nick asked.

"Being pregnant during summer time in Vegas?" Mandy made a face. "Eww."

"So, we're at 14 weeks now, and I'm feeling much better than I did when I was pregnant Violet. This pregnancy just has a different feel to it."

"Then it's probably a boy." Mandy nodded.

"Why is that?" Grissom asked.

"Well, when my best friend was pregnant with her third, she knew it was a boy because she felt much different than she had with her two girls." Mandy shrugged. "Sure enough, she has little Nathan."

"Well it isn't an exact science or anything." Nick added.

"Whatever you have Sar, you know it will be just as spoiled as Violet is." Warrick smiled.

"I second that." Jim smiled.

"So how did Violet take the news?" Nick asked.

"She was very happy." Sara smiled. "She was so excited this morning when we made the shirt; she couldn't wait to show you guys."

"Well, we're thrilled for you guys." Warrick smiled. "This time, just give me some warning before we paint, so I can wear appropriate clothes."


	22. Chapter 22 Off to school

A/N - Ok, it's darn cold here today so I stayed in at lunch and finished up the chapter I was working on...so here you go, enjoy!

* * *

Sara pulled Violet's hair back into a ponytail and spun her around to get a good look at her. "I can't believe you're going to school." Sara cried and hugged Violet tightly. 

"Mommy? I only go for a little while, why are you sad I'm leaving?" Violet asked softly.

"Honey, mommy's happy. She's very excited for you." Sara smiled.

"Oh, it's good crying?"

"Yes honey, its good crying." Sara wiped her tears and kissed her daughter's cheek. "Go show daddy how adorable you are in that uniform."

Violet sprinted out of the room and down the stairs and Sara went in search of the camera.

"Daddy!! Look! I'm ready for school!!" Violet burst into the den and into Grissom's arms.

"Oh my goodness, look at you! You look smarter already!" Grissom smiled.

"How do you _look_ smart daddy?"

"Ummm..." Grissom remembered his many discussions with his young daughter about not judging others by looks, and struggled to find a good answer. "Its school uniform and people who go to school and learn are very smart."

"Ok guys smile!" Sara appeared at the door wielding the camera. Grissom and Violet posed as Sara snapped away. "Ok, let's get going, we don't want to have her celebratory breakfast make her late for school."

Violet ran into the kitchen and grabbed her green lizard backpack and followed her parents out to the car.

"Why don't we cut down the strip and go to Denny's?" Sara suggested as they exited off the highway.

"Yay!!" Violet squealed. "I want sausage!"

"You can have whatever you want sweetheart!" Grissom smiled as they came to a stop at a light.

"Look daddy she's smart!"

Grissom let out a gasp as he looked out the window to see a stripper handing out flyers on the sidewalk, clad in a school girl uniform. "Sometimes I hate Vegas..." He whispered to himself.

Sara glared at Grissom. "Why does she think...?"

"I'll explain it later." Grissom sighed as the light changed and they pulled away.

* * *

Grissom stopped the car in front of the small brick building. He stared at the other families and their children for a moment, before getting out and letting Violet out of the car. Violet walked between her parents, holding their hands as they walked inside and found her classroom. 

"Ok, sweetheart, this is your room." Grissom turned to his daughter. "Do you want us to come inside with you?"

"No daddy, I am ready for school." Violet smiled.

"Are you sure baby? The newsletter said we were welcome to stay with you the first day." Sara smiled.

Violet looked inside the classroom, she only saw a few parents milling around. "I think I'll be ok mommy." She smiled and reached up and hugged Sara's neck. "Bye mommy, don't worry." She whispered. Sara held back the tears and stepped back to compose herself.

"You listen to your teachers ok?" Grissom kneeled down. "You learn lots and have fun at the same time, ok baby?"

"I will daddy." Violet reached up and kissed his cheek. "I think you should buy mommy some ice cream." She smiled and disappeared into the classroom.

Grissom wiped a tear that managed to escape his eye, and grabbed Sara's hand as they left.

* * *

"Violet come on!!" Sara yelled up the stairs. 

"I'm coming mom!"

"Come on, you have to eat so we can get you to school on time!" Sara called back as she slid the eggs and sausage onto Violet's plate.

Violet thundered down the stairs and hung her backpack on the door before sitting down to eat her breakfast.

Sara called for the dog and held the door open to let him out into the yard. She grabbed the phone as the toast popped up and she went to the fridge for butter.

"Grissom."

"You can't be late again; the appointment is at 10 _sharp_." Sara grunted into the phone.

"I will be on time, I promise."

"You said that last time, and you missed almost the whole appointment." Sara sighed and plopped a piece of toast on Violets plate.

"Sara, I will be there." Grissom sighed.

"I'm holding you to it, Gilbert."

"Ok sweetheart, you get Violet going and I will meet you at the clinic."

"Bye." Sara sighed as she hung out the phone and went to let the dog back in.

* * *

Sara sighed as she looked at her watch. 10:06. No Grissom. 

"Sara Grissom?" The nurse called, Sara got up and headed toward the door.

"I'm here!" Grissom jogged up behind her.

"I thought you were going to be a no show." Sara sighed as she slid off her shoes so the nurse could weigh her.

"I promised I'd be here." Grissom smiled. "I'm a man of my word."

Sara rolled her eyes and stepped on the scale.

After the nurse had left and Sara had changed into her gown she felt a little bit better. "Well at least my shoes match." She smiled.

"You were so mad at me that day." Grissom laughed.

"I didn't mean to bitch this morning, I was just a little stressed." Sara sighed.

"I know, its ok." Grissom smiled. "The guys want me to call after the appointment, they have a bet going."

"Over the sex of our baby?"

"It's been a slow week." Grissom shrugged.

"Dr. and Mrs. Grissom!" The doctor smiled as she came in. "How are we today?"

"Ready to find out what were having, hopefully the baby cooperates." Grissom smiled.

"We'll see what we can do." The doctor smiled as she pulled up Sara's gown and squirted the gel on her stomach.

"What do you two think you're having?" The doctor asked as she swirled the wand over Sara's stomach.

"Boy." Sara smiled.

"Nope, I think we're going to have another girl." Grissom squinted at the screen.

"We've been at odds for a month now." Sara laughed. "He is just so convinced it's a girl."

"Well, I hate to tell you this Mrs.Grissom." The doctor pointed at the screen. "Your husband is right. You're going to have another daughter."

"Catherine owes me twenty bucks." Grissom smiled.

* * *

"Daddy!" Violet smiled as she ran to Grissom. 

"I thought I would take my three favorite ladies to lunch." He smiled.

Violet looked in the car, and looked confused for a moment. "There are only two girls here daddy."

"There are three." Grissom smiled as he knelt down. "The baby is mommy's tummy is a girl."

"A sister??" Violet ran to Sara and kissed her belly. She cupped her mouth and spoke into Sara's stomach. "HI SISTER!!!"

Grissom laughed and helped Violet get into the car, ready to take his girls out to celebrate.

* * *


	23. Chapter 23 Grissom Baby II

**A/N - So this pregnancy is kicking my butt...but I managed to get this up before the holidays, so Im happy! I hope you enjoy, and dont forget to review!!**

* * *

Sara waved as Violet marched into the school, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Just think we're going to have another one very soon." Grissom smiled as they walked back to the car.

"I've been having Braxton Hick's, that's no indication of labor." Sara smiled. "We still have 3 weeks until she's due."

"And still, we have no name for her." Grissom smiled as he opened the car door so Sara could get in.

"Don't remind me." Sara sighed as he shut the door.

"It shouldn't be this hard to pick a name." Grissom sighed as he got in and drove off.

"Well, maybe we need to work harder at it... she needs a name!" Sara grunted.

"She'll get a name honey, don't worry." Grissom patted her leg as they pulled onto the highway.

Sara was lost in thought as she sat at the kitchen table. Catherine had the night off and she and Lindsay were having Violet over for the night, so Grissom and Sara could have a night alone. Sara was waiting for the delivery man to show up with their food, as Grissom fed his lizards.

A sharp pain in her side brought her back into reality. "Holy!" She grunted as she clenched her fists and shut her eyes.

Grissom came running into the kitchen. "Is it time?? Is it time??" He breathed as he came to a stop at Sara's side.

"Maybe." Sara sighed as her muscles released. "Ohh!!" she cried as the pain ripped though her again."

"Sara?" Grissom searched her face. "Sara, that was one right after the other."

"I know but...oh my god..." Sara breathed as her muscles tensed and burned. "Gil, I think we need to go, and I think we need to go NOW." She huffed.

Grissom quickly helped Sara to her feet, helping her walk into the garage.

"I can't!" Sara screamed and stopped just short of the door.

"Honey come on we have to go!" Grissom helped her move forward and get into the car.

Grissom sped down the highway towards the hospital, he glanced over at Sara, pearls of sweat beading on her face as she grunted and breathed through her pain.

"GIL!!" Sara screamed at the top of her lungs. "PULL OVER!! PULL OVER NOW!!"

"Sara, I cant, I can't pull over, we're getting closer." Grissom was flustered.

"GILBERT GRISSOM! PULL OVER THIS CAR NOW SO YOU CAN DELIVER YOUR DAUGHTER!"

"What?" Grissom gasped.

"GIL! She is coming!! Help me! You have to HELP ME!!" Sara screamed as kicked off her shoes.

Grissom pulled off the highway and sped down the off ramp.

"What are you doing??" Sara yelled.

"The lab is 4 blocks from this exit."

"She is COMING!!" Sara screamed.

Grissom popped open his cell phone as he ran a stop sign.

"Brown."

"Warrick are you in the lab?" Grissom was yelling into the phone.

"Yeah, boss. Why are you shouting?"

"I'm about to pull into the lot, call 911, get an ambulance, get Doc to the back door, Sara is going to have this baby in the car!"

"What?"

"Just do it Warrick, NOW!" Grissom pulled up to the back of the lab and frantically unbuckled himself. He climbed out of the car and rushed to open Sara's door.

Sara scooted herself back to lie down in the front seat as Doc Robbins, Nick, and Warrick rushed outside.

"I can't believe I'm having this baby in the parking lot of the _lab_!" Sara huffed and she pushed her feet against the frame of the door.

"Oh my god!" Doc gasped as he quickly put gloves on. "Don't push anymore Sara, she's crowning, don't push yet!" He spoke quickly as Nick Helped him with a protective gown.

"I can't help it!!" Sara grunted as Nick peered into the car. "_Don't look at that_! Come around to my head!" She scolded him. Nick and Warrick hurried to the other side of the car, Warrick got in and leaned Sara's head against his chest.

"Ok go!" Doc said as he leaned into the car.

"Ok go? You tell her _okay go_?" Warrick raised his eyebrow, Doc simply shrugged.

"Oh shut it you guys." Sara breathed before inhaling and giving a push.

Moments later the sounds of screams filled the air.

"Oh my god, she's here." Warrick whispered.

"I'm going to clamp and cut the cord Sara." Doc smiled. "She looks good."

"Oh thank god!" Sara leaned back into Warrick's arms as she heard sirens coming closer.

In a matter of seconds Doc Robbins was handing the newborn to Nick, who had a sterile towel.

Nick carefully wrapped the wailing baby before handing her over to Grissom.

"She's perfect." Grissom smiled and leaned into the car.

"I cannot believe you just delivered my baby..." Sara smiled at Doc Robbins.

"She was _born_ to be a lab rat." He smiled back.

"Wait until Catherine hears this!" Warrick laughed softly.

"Oh my god! We have to call her!" Sara leaned forward to see Grissom. "Violet needs to know she has a sister!"

"I will, lets just let these EMTs get us to a hospital first." Grissom laughed as the ambulance pulled in.

"Baby Girl Grissom?" The nurse smiled as she wheeled the bassinette into Sara's room.

"Oh my god." Sara stared blankly at the baby.

"Is something the matter?" The nurse stopped.

"We don't have a name for her!" Sara gasped as Grissom picked up his daughter.

"Well, let's sit and have a little talk with her and see what we come up with." Grissom smiled.

"We have a name book for such occasions." The nurse smiled. "I'll bring it to you."

"Thank you." Sara sighed as Grissom sat in the bed next to her.

"Doc suggested_ Alberta_." Grissom raised an eyebrow at Sara.

"I'll pass on that." Sara smiled as she took the baby from his arms.

"Here we are!" The nurse came in and handed Grissom the book. "Let us know when you've found a name." She smiled and walked out.

"I still like Adelaide." Grissom said as he thumbed through the pages.

"No, no, and NO." Sara laughed.

"Can we come in?" Catherine poked her head in the door.

"Yeah." Sara smiled.

Nick, Mandy, Warrick, and Catherine slowly came in and peeked at the sleeping baby.

"Jim Lindsay and Violet are a few minutes behind us." Catherine smiled.

"Still haven't found a name yet eh?" Warrick motioned to the book still in Grissom's hands.

"No." Sara grunted as she passed the baby to Mandy.

"It'll come to you." Nick smiled.

"Mommy?" Violet sprung into the room and jumped into the bed.

"Hi sweetheart!!" Sara gushed as she hugged her.

"Is that my sister??" She asked anxiously.

"Here." Mandy handed the baby back to Sara.

"This is your little sister Violet." Sara smiled as Violet gingerly touched the baby's cheek.

"What is her name?" Violet asked.

"Mommy and Daddy are still trying to find one for her." Grissom leaned in.

"I think you should call her Jazz-ma-tazz" Violet smiled.

"Jasmine..." Sara looked up at Grissom.

"It's a beautiful name." He smiled.

"Is it weird if both of our children are named after flowers?" Sara looked up at Catherine.

"Not at all." Catherine smiled. "I think Jasmine is perfect."

"Jasmine." Sara smiled.

"What about a middle name?" Grissom asked.

A sly smile reached Sara's lips. "You know what?" Her grin grew bigger. "I think we _should_ honor her hero, and go with Alberta..."

"As in Alberta …… Canada?" Nick questioned.

"I guess so." Sara smiled and kissed both of her daughter's cheeks.


	24. Chapter 24 Midnight sister chats

**A/N - Michelle My Belle, I owe you a _big_ thank you for inspiring me to get this story rolling again! You rock my socks, seriously.**

**To the rest of you guys! I thank you for being patient with me and my blasted writer's block. I also thank you for the encouragement along the way, that was awesome. Thank you so much.**

**I am testing the waters with a shorter chapter, I've been away from writing this story for so long I didnt want to risk a big chapter and then screwing it up. So please let me know what you think!! I anxiously await the reviews!**

**TophetAngel**

* * *

Sara held Jasmine against her chest and swayed softly as she watched Grissom read a bedtime story to Violet. 

She tried to remember what life had been like before her daughters, and wondered how they had ever got along without them.

"Penny for your thoughts." Grissom whispered as he walked to the door, clicking off the light as he left his sleeping daughter's room.

"Remember what our lives were like before the girls?" Sara smiled.

"No." Grissom chuckled. "I don't.."

"Yeah, Me neither." Sara smiled as Grissom softly took the sleeping infant from her arms.

* * *

Sara rolled over and looked at the clock. 

3am.

It took a moment for the sound of Jasmine's cries to register in her brain, and she threw the covers back and waddled down the hall to the nursery.

Sara stopped short of the door when the baby stopped crying and she heard a little voice.

"Don't cry Jasmine."

Sara put her hand to face, and held back tears as she listened to Violet talk to her little sister.

"Daddy says when babies cry, they are trying to tell us something. Are you hungry? Because breakfast isn't until the sun comes up."

Sara giggled to herself.

"Is your diaper dirty? Because I cant change you. But you don't stink."

Sara crept closer and peeked into the nursery. Violet stood next to the crib in her pink nightgown, her arm stretched through the bars of the crib, Jasmines fist wrapped around her fingers.

"Are you scared? You shouldn't be scared Jazzy. I know it's your first night home, and it's new, but don't be scared. My room is just next door and Mommy and Daddy are down the hall. Bruno will keep us safe too. He is a good dog. Just make sure you don't pull his ears. It makes him grumpy when you pull his ears."

"Violet honey..." Sara walked into the nursery. "You need to be sleeping."

"Jasmine woke up and cried. I came in to talk to her." Violet smiled.

"That was very nice of you." Sara carefully leaned down and kissed her nose. "You are doing a great job as big sister."

"Thanks mommy!"

Sara reached into the crib and started changing Jasmine as Violet peeked through the bars to watch.

"Mommy has to feed the baby a lot right now." Sara told Violet as she picked her up and made her way to the rocking chair. "The baby will eat every few hours."

"Oh!" Violet nodded as Sara started feeding the baby in her arms.

"I think mommy and daddy are going to put a bassinet in their room tomorrow. You can't be up every time she wakes up, or you won't get any sleep."

"You won't get any sleep either mommy." Violet noted.

"Mommy sleeps when the baby sleeps. So when you are at school, if mommy and the baby are home, they will be sleeping."

"Oh, I understand." Violet smiled.

"And when you come home, you can help me, so mommy doesn't get too exhausted."

"I know. Auntie Catherine told me I need to be a good helper; it's my job as the big sister. She told me all about my job."

"I'm glad she did!" Sara smiled as she brought Jasmine up to be burped.

"Babies are a lot of work." Violet observed as she sat on the floor.

"They are." Sara smiled.

"Was I a lot of work too mommy?"

"Yes, you were." Sara giggled. "But when you were born I was a brand new mommy, so I had to learn a lot for myself. Now that I've been a mommy, I know a lot more stuff and it will help mommy with Jasmine."

"You should have gone to mommy school." Violet told her.

"What is going on in here? A party?" Grissom smiled as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Jasmine was crying so I came in here to help her before mommy came. I have to. I'm a big sister. It's an important job." Violet said.

"Thank you for being such a good helper." Grissom said as he walked in and picked Violet up from the floor. "But you need to sleep at night. Let's go read a book, and get you back to bed please."

"Ok daddy." Violet smiled as they walked out.

"Well..." Sara smiled at Jasmine as her eyes grew heavy. "Let's get you back to bed, so everyone can get some more sleep."

* * *

Sara kissed Violet's cheek as she was heading out the door. "Have a good day at school baby." 

"I will! I get to tell everyone I have a new sister!" Violet called out as she followed Grissom out to the car.

Sara walked over the bassinet and sighed softly. "Well, at least I am not freaking out about being left alone with a new baby this time."

* * *

Grissom smiled as he carefully put his keys on the kitchen table. Sara slept on the couch, her arm draped into the bassinet. He knew he would curse himself later for not snapping a picture of this moment, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Sara. 

He tiptoed across the living room, sitting in his arm chair. Sara had been right, it was hard to remember what life had been like before their daughters were born, but it was even harder for him to imagine life before Sara. While he had his career and his bugs and his routines, he realized his life really hadn't started until she was in it.

"It's creepy when you watch me sleep." Sara muttered as she pulled her hand out of the bassinet.

"Sorry." Grissom smiled softly.

"What time is it?" Sara asked, pulling her robe tighter as she stood and made her way to the arm chair.

"9:30, just got back from dropping off Violet." He whispered as she crawled into his lap.

"Mmm." Sara was already drifting back to sleep.

"I love you Sara."

"I love you too Gil." She mumbled as she went back to sleep.

Grissom sat there cradling her, a smile on his face as he watched his daughter's chest rise and fall.

Yes, his life had finally begun.

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**A/N- I anxiously await your thoughts and inspiration!**


	25. Chapter 25 Epilogue Part I

**A/N - Ok, I think the time has come to wrap this one up. I know I wont be able to once the baby comes, and I need to have closure on this story. This is part one of the epilogue, so one more chapter to go. **

**I want to thank all of you have read, reviewed, and discussed this story with me. I appreciate it so much. You guys are awesome.**

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Sara smiled as she watched Violet cling to her father's waist as they moved across the dance floor. She nearly cried when Violet stood on her father's shoes, the way she had years before as a small child.

"You ok mom?" Jasmine asked as she sat down.

"Yeah." Sara nodded. "I was just thinking that you two grew up too fast."

"You still have me mama." Jasmine smiled as she hugged her mother.

"On school breaks and summers." Sara shrugged.

"Mom, I visit more than that! I'm just at LVU." Jasmine shook her head.

"Yeah, but so was Violet. Then she met David and the visits became less and less." Sara sighed. "Now she's married."

"Since when are _you_ a sap?" Jasmine smiled.

"Since your sister became a _wife_ three hours ago." Sara laughed as the music stopped.

"Well I'm going to go find Grandpa Jim, go dance with daddy." Jasmine nudged her arm as she got up and moved through the ballroom.

"Your daughter says I should dance with you." Sara smiled as Gil walked to greet her at the edge of the dance floor.

"I have smart daughters." Grissom nodded as he led her out to dance.

"When did our babies grow up?" Sara shook her head as she swayed to the music.

Grissom laughed. "We were there, remember? We watched it happen."

"I know that Gil, but you know what I mean."

"I do." He nodded. "I swear it was yesterday we took Violet home from the hospital, but it was twenty one years ago."

Sara watched as Violet and David swayed to the music across the room.

"Now she's a married entomologist." Grissom laughed.

"And her sister is following in her shoes." Sara grinned.

"I can't believe both my girls followed in my foot steps." Grissom laughed.

"Ugh. Me neither." Sara shook her head and smiled as they moved to the music.

* * *

Violet sat at the banquet table sipping a glass of champagne. Her eyes scanned the room and she smiled when she saw each familiar face.

Nick and Mandy were obviously having a disagreement with their teenage daughter who had taken a liking to one of the ushers, Michael.

"I thought I had it bad taking my dates home to daddy, I can't imagine having to take them home to Nick. Scary." She thought to herself.

Warrick and Catherine giggled with Lindsey as they picked at their cake. Violet remembered the shopping trip with her uncle to find the perfect ring for her auntie Cath.

"I'm so glad it didn't take David nearly sixteen years to propose to me." She shook her head.

Brass sat talking with Jasmine, laughing at the half drunken groomsmen trying to do the cha-cha slide.

Violet smiled. "Grandpa." She whispered out loud, her smile growing. She had always had a special connection with Jim and was happy that she had her father and her 'Grandpa' walk her down the aisle. Since Ellie's death a few years back, Brass had become more attached to the Grissom girls than ever.

Violet laughed out loud as she watched Greg join in on the dance floor. Watching Greg dance was like watching a fish out of water. It was almost that sad.

Her heart got caught in her throat as she watched her parents sneak a kiss at a nearby table.

"God I hope David and I are still that in love with each other when we're older." She thought.

"Penny for your thoughts." David asked as he sat next to his new bride.

"You better have a lot of pennies." Violet smiled as she leaned in a kissed him.

* * *

Grissom waved as Violet and David made their way through the bubbles and into the limo. He lingered long after the tail lights had disappeared into the horizon and fumbled with his tie.

Jasmine and Sara had gone to collect their coats and he was left alone with his thoughts.

Once upon a time he'd given up the idea of having children and now he had given his first daughter away.

"Its funny how mysterious life can be." He thought as he looked into the ball room where his youngest daughter and wife were playfully tossing table confetti at each other. "I never thought they would be a part of life, but I can't imagine how my life would have been with out them."

He sighed and wiped a stray tear from his eye and went to start the car.

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**Reviews make my heart smile!**


	26. Chapter 26 Epilogue Part II

**A/N - Well, this is it. The end of the line. Im incredibly sad this is over, but its been an awesome ride. Thank you to everyone who stuck with the story, it means a lot to me. **

**To everyone who reviewed... you guys are awesome. Each review was a little ray of sunshine in my day.**

**Thank you and again, and I leave you with Jasmine's wedding reception.**

**TA**

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Grissom smiled as he watched his youngest daughter dance with her new husband for the first time.

"You're up next Dad." Violet smiled as she bounced her son Jack on her hip.

"I know the drill." He smiled, kissed his grandson's cheek and made his way to the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" Grissom smiled as Jasmine took his arm and walked to the middle of the room.

Neither heard the music as they swayed.

"I'm so glad I can be here for this." Grissom smiled.

"Don't talk like that daddy." Jasmine shook her head.

"I am eighty-two you know kiddo." He nodded.

"I know." Jasmine nodded back.

She fought back tears as she thought about it. Grandpa Jim had missed her special day. "He almost made it." She thought, the thoughts of his funeral just a few months before made a tear spill onto her cheek.

"He was here with you today. You know that don't you?" Grissom asked, knowing full well what his daughter was thinking.

Jasmine nodded. She hadn't told a soul, but a blue bird landed on her window sill that morning and didn't leave until she broke her gaze. She knew. She knew Grandpa Jim had come to greet her on her wedding day.

"You girls grew up into fine women." Grissom said changing the subject.

"You're just saying that because we're both entomologists." Jasmine laughed.

"Maybe." Grissom smiled and swayed a little slower.

"I can't believe my babies are raised. And have babies of their own." He glanced up at Violet who was trying to take a picture while still balancing the baby on her hip.

"That happens." Jasmine smiled.

* * *

Sara wandered to the table her friends shared to watch her daughter and husband dance.

"This wedding was beautiful." Nick smiled.

"You're next." Sara smiled.

"I know." Nick shook his head and glanced over at his daughter and Fiancé at the next table.

"And then two months after that it's Linds." Warrick chimed in.

"God don't remind me." Catherine shook her head. "Our babies grew up."

"I hate it." Sara laughed.

"Me too." Mandy chimed in.

"Meanwhile, I'm trying to get mine out of diapers." Greg shook his head.

"Nothing wrong with that." Sara smiled. "Grissom did it, you can too."

"I feel like the worlds oldest father." Greg sighed.

"Gris was older than you when Violet was born." Sara raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe Gris and I need a chat." Greg conceded.

Sara's gaze turned back to her daughter and she smiled as she headed toward her.

"Hey mama." Jasmine smiled as she hugged her mother.

"Hey Jazz-ma-tazz." Sara whispered and gently stroked her arm.

"Don't get all sappy on me mama." Jasmine smiled.

"Come on guys, the next one is a group dance." Jasmine smiled her devilish grin and the group exchanged worried looks.

The DJ's voice boomed through the hall. "This one is dedicated to the family of the bride."

Jasmine took the microphone and smiled as she watched the now larger group gathered on the floor.

"I have a very unconventional family, but we are family just the same. We may not have the same blood, or genealogy, but we have loved each other no matter what. I want to thank everyone in our weird little family for being there for me growing up. I wouldn't have my twisted sense of humor if it wasn't for Grandpa." Her voice wavered.

"I wouldn't know how to change my own tire or spark plugs if it wasn't for Uncle Nick. Auntie Cath gave me my fantastic sense of style and Lindsey has been a constant confidant." She smiled.

"Uncle Greg taught me it's ok to be weird as long as you're confident, and Uncle Rick taught me to take appropriate risks and gamble when you need to." She winked at her uncle.

"Auntie Mandy taught me that sweetness is not a weakness and that random, thoughtful, cards to an unsuspecting friend can strengthen relationships."

"My big sis Vi was always there, she's the best listener I know. Even though we are grown ups now, and have started families of our own, she is still my best friend... Even though she tries to boss me around at the lab." She stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Our midnight sister chats have gotten less and less, but I still cherish the midnight giggles and whispers exchanged between us."

She stopped and choked back the tears as she came to her parents.

"My parents are quite the unconventional parents, and that has made me who I am today. My daddy taught me that bugs aren't to be screamed at and squashed, and that lead to my great career with LVPD and gave me the best husband anyone could ask for... He taught me it's ok to be a little nerdy and I think you all can agree I'm a bit nerdy." She stopped and allowed the laughter to subside in the room.

"And my mama." She smiled, and the same gapped tooth smile smiled back at her. "My mama is the greatest mother in the world. She tells me tales of how scared she was when my sister and I came along, but I don't believe it. Probably because I never saw it. My mom _always_ knew what to do, no matter if it was a scrapped knee, physics homework, or problems in the love department. My mom was amazing." She stopped and laughed as a tear ran down her cheek. "I told mama not to be sappy, so I won't be either... This song was a favorite of mine growing up, I think I played it a thousand times. It's an oldie but a goodie, and this one goes out to my very unconventional, but very awesome, family. I love you guys."

And with that, the DJ started the music and even Grissom danced as "We are Family" blasted from the speakers.

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**_Fin_**

**A/N - Ok corny song, but it came on my iPod at lunch yesterday when I was trying to figure out what song would be played, so I ran with it like a pair of a scissors. **

**Thank to everyone again! And please post your final review!!**


	27. Author's Note

**Sorry For the alerts! I had to fix a few things….**

**But as long as you're here…. I want to keep writing some CSI drabble before the baby comes… and since I have some pretty involved readers, I'd like to ask you all for ideas.**

**So if you have subject you think would be good for a little drabble…. Please send it to me. Serious, Funny, silly topics...whatever... I need a muse or two!**

**Again, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and made my life happy!**


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